ID:187003
 Mar 13 2005, 4:21 pm
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Does anyone how to find out the area of a quadrilateral(besides squares and rectangles) using just the perimeter? All I know is that the permeter of the shape is 1000m.
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Mar 13 2005, 4:58 pm
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AZA
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Ugh, I think... divide the permitere by... 8, and then...something... *trails off*
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You can't, and here's why:
Consider two rectangles. The first rectangle has all sides equal to 250m, and thus its perimeter is 250*2+250*2 = 1000m. It's area is 250*250 = 62500 square metres. (Yeah, I know it's a square. A square is a special kind of rectangle, just like a rectangle is a special kind of quadrilateral. So no pedantry from the peanut gallery. =)) The second rectangle has two sides 100m long, and two sides 400m long. 100+100+400+400 = 1000m; the same perimeter as the first rectangle. But its area is 100*400 = 40000 square metres, which is different from the first rectangle. So you can't find the area of a quadrilateral just by knowing its perimeter. Unless it's a square, in which case the area is (perimeter/4)**2. | |