Final answer:
The perimeter of a square can be calculated by multiplying the length of one side by four. If one side of Susie's square is x inches and the total perimeter is 36 inches, then each side is 9 inches long. When scaling up a square's dimensions, the perimeter changes in direct proportion to the scale factor.
Step-by-step explanation:
When solving for the perimeter of a square, we must remember that the perimeter is the total distance around the shape. With a square, all sides are equal in length, so the perimeter can be found by multiplying the length of one side by four. For example, if Susie drew a square where one side (let's call it x) is of unknown length, the perimeter would be 4x inches.
Now, referring to the information given, if Susie's shape has a perimeter of 36 inches, and she drew a square, this implies that each side of the square is x inches. Knowing the perimeter is 36 inches and a square has four equal sides, we can deduce that x must be 36 inches divided by 4, which is 9 inches. Therefore, each side of Susie's square is 9 inches long.
In another scenario where Marta has a square with a side length of 4 inches and then draws a similar square with dimensions twice that of the first one, the side length of the larger square would be 8 inches. This demonstrates how scale factors work in geometry. For instance, if a second square has sides twice as long as the sides of the first square, that means the scale factor is 2. Consequently, the perimeter of the larger square will also be twice the perimeter of the smaller one. Thus, understanding the concept of a square's perimeter can assist in tackling similar geometry problems, such as calculating scale factors or converting dimensions from different units like meters to inches or vice versa.