Finding the Length of a Pentagon Side Given the Perimeter
As a high school mathematics teacher, I often encounter questions that challenge students to apply their knowledge of geometry to real-world problems. One such problem involves finding the length of a side of a pentagon given its perimeter.
Let's consider the following scenario:
The perimeter of the pentagon below is 68 units. Find the length of side OR.
To solve this problem, we need to understand the properties of a pentagon and the relationship between its sides and perimeter.
Understanding the Pentagon
A pentagon is a polygon with five sides and five angles. The sum of the interior angles of a pentagon is 540 degrees. Additionally, all the sides of a regular pentagon are equal in length.
Calculating the Length of Side OR
Given information:
- The perimeter of the pentagon is 68 units.
To find the length of side OR, we need to follow these steps:
- Divide the perimeter by the number of sides to find the length of each side.
- Perimeter = 68 units
- Number of sides = 5
- Length of each side = Perimeter / Number of sides
- Length of each side = 68 / 5 = 13.6 units
- Therefore, the length of side OR is 13.6 units.
It's important to note that the answer should be provided without variables, as requested in the original problem statement.
By following this step-by-step approach, you can easily find the length of a pentagon side given its perimeter. This knowledge can be particularly useful in various geometry-related problems and applications.