14,400 views
44 votes
44 votes
Find the apothem of a regular 12-gon (12-sided polygon) if each side is 4.2 cm, and has

an area of 197 sq. cm.

User Undefinedtoken
by
2.7k points

1 Answer

8 votes
8 votes

Answer:

7.8 cm

Explanation:

The relevant formula is ...

A = 1/2aP . . . . where a is the apothem, and P is the perimeter.

For a regular 12-gon the perimeter is 12 times the side length, so we have ...

P = 12s = 12(4.2 cm) = 50.4 cm

Then the apothem is found from ...

197 cm² = (1/2)a·(50.4 cm)

a = 197/25.2 cm ≈ 7.81 cm

The apothem is about 7.8 cm.

__

Additional comment

A regular 12-gon with a side length of 4.2 cm will have an area of about 197.500 cm². The apothem will be about 7.837 cm. The area of a regular n-gon can be calculated from the side length as ...

A = ns²/(4·tan(180°/n))

Similarly, the apothem will be ...

a = s/(2·tan(180°/n))

User Milkypostman
by
3.0k points
Welcome to QAmmunity.org, where you can ask questions and receive answers from other members of our community.