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Geometry (all content)
Course: Geometry (all content) > Unit 7
Lesson 3: Perimeter- Perimeter: introduction
- Perimeter of a shape
- Find perimeter by counting unit squares
- Find perimeter by counting units
- Finding perimeter when a side length is missing
- Find perimeter when given side lengths
- Finding missing side length when given perimeter
- Find a missing side length when given perimeter
- Perimeter & area
- Perimeter and unit conversion
- Applying the metric system to perimeter
- Perimeter review
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Applying the metric system to perimeter
How do you find width of a rectangle if given a length and a perimeter? First, make sure that your units match. Once the units match, use the formula for the perimeter of a rectangle (2 times the length plus 2 times the width) to solve for the width. Created by Sal Khan and Monterey Institute for Technology and Education.
Want to join the conversation?
- How do you convert liters to milliters(0 votes)
- that depends on the value there is a jump system if it takes two jumps it is 100 and one so 10 by counting the 0's and putting the decimal(0 votes)
- I thought the width is the SHORT side of a rectangle and the length is the LOOONG side of a rectangle.Am I wrong??(2 votes)
- no it does not like in this problem obviously but it usually does to be technically correct. yes you are right.(1 vote)
- one good thing to remember is that kilo is 1000, so yes if you multiply 0.72 by 1000 you will get 720 and then you just subtract 320(because we already know that the width is 160, so 160 times two would equal 320) so if you subtract 320 from 720 you will get 400 for the length so you divide that for both sided with makes each side get 200. this is a problem you can do in your head and i thank khan academy for showing us how to do that. but one thing is that the width is how long the rectangle is and the length is how tall it is so don't get them mixed up. width is how wide, and length is how tall.(1 vote)
- I did it by adding 160 by 160 to get 320, which I changed to .320. I subracted .720-.320 to get .400 which I divided by 2 to get 200 meters. That's right too isn't it?(1 vote)
- I added 160 by 160 to get 320, then changed .320. I subtracted .720-.320 to get .400 which then divided 2 to get 200 meters. Only here is how it came out .720-.320= 0.4 with is .400 then divide 2 into .400 = 0.2 which is .200(1 vote)
- Shouldn't the length by definition be greater than the width?(1 vote)
- Not really. The length and the width (in rectangles) play the same role in finding both the perimeter and the area. Stating this, it is not necessary that they ought to be as you said...
If it was another case as in that of a Right angled triangle, we cannot exchange between hypotenuse and altitude/base...(1 vote)
- how do I do 9m 77cm = cm(1 vote)
- you multiply the meters by the # of centimeters in the meter and add that to the centimeters that exist.
(meters * centimeters in a meter) + centimeters(1 vote)
- what are metric conversions(1 vote)
- how do you calculate 500m to become 5km?(1 vote)
- well km is bigger so divide 500m to 5km hope this helped(1 vote)
- what is the correct unit of measurement for 0.07(1 vote)
- 19 feet =_______yards______foot or _______yards(1 vote)
- 3 feet per yard. 19/3= 6 1/3
19 feet=6 yards 1 foot, or 6 1/3 yards.(1 vote)
Video transcript
The perimeter of a rectangular
fence measures 0.72 kilometers. The length of the fenced
area is 160 meters. What is its width? So we have a rectangular
fence. Let me draw it. So that is a rectangle. You can imagine we're
looking from above. This line is the top
of the fence. And if you take its perimeter,
the perimeter is the distance around the fence. If you take this distance plus
this distance plus that distance plus that distance,
it's going to be 0.72 kilometers. That's the total distance
of all of the sides. Now, the length of the fenced
area is 160 meters. Let's call this the length. So this distance right
here is 160 meters. Since it's a rectangle, that
distance over there is also going to be 160 meters, and we
need to figure out its width. They want us to figure
out the width. The width is this distance right
over here, which is also going to be this distance
right over there. Now, what is the perimeter
of the fence? The perimeter is the sum of this
length plus this length plus that length plus
that length. So the perimeter-- let me write
it in orange-- is going to be equal to w, the width,
plus 160 meters, plus the width, plus 160 meters. And let's assume
w is in meters. So we could add it all up. So if you were to add all of
these up, you'd get a certain number of meters. If you were to add all of these
up, you have a w plus a w, so you'd be 2w, plus-- 160
plus 160 is 320-- so plus 320. And this whole thing
is in meters. We're assuming that
w is in meters. Now, they also told us that the
perimeter of the fence is 0.72 kilometers. So the perimeter-- let me do it
in that same orange color. The perimeter is also equal to
0.72 kilometers, and we can abbreviate that with km. Now, if we wanted to solve an
equation, if we wanted to set this thing equal to the
perimeter they gave us, we have to make sure that the
units are the same. Here it's in meters. Here it's in kilometers. So let's convert this 0.72
kilometers to meters. And the way to do that, we want
the kilometers in the denominator so it cancels out
with the kilometers, and you want meters in the numerator. Now, how many meters
equal a kilometer? Well, it's 1,000 meters
for every 1 kilometer. 1 kilometer is 1,000 meters. Now, if you multiply these
two things, the kilometers cancel out. You're just going to be
left with the meters. And then when you multiply 0.72
times 1,000, you could just first say, OK, let's
take 72 times 1,000. 72 times 1,000 would
be 72 with three zeroes: one, two, three. And then out of the two numbers
that you're taking the product of, we have two
numbers behind the decimal: one, two. So you put two numbers behind
the decimal, one, two, right over there. So 0.72 times 1,000 is 720. And that makes sense. 0.72, it's not quite 1, but
it's getting close to 1, almost 3/4 of a whole, and this
is almost 3/4 of 1,000. So it makes sense. So the perimeter, this
information right here, 0.72 kilometers, is the same
thing as 720 meters. So if you take 2 times the width
in meters, and add that to the combined lengths-- it's
160 and 160, that's 320, and all of this is in meters-- that
is going to be equal to the total perimeter, which
is 720 meters. Now that we have the units
right, we can solve for w, and w will tell us this
width in meters. So 2w plus 320 is
equal to 720. We can subtract 320 from both
sides of this equation. Remember, an equation is saying,
that is equal to that. If we want them both always to
be equal, whatever we do to the left-hand side, we have
to do the right-hand side. So we subtract 320
from both sides. The left-hand side,
that cancels out. That's why we subtracted 320. And you just have left 2 times
the width is equal to 720 minus 320, which is 400. Now you can divide both
sides of this by 2. And then you're left with
the w is equal to 400/2, which is 200. And we said that w was
in meters, so the width is 200 meters. Let's see if it makes sense. 200 plus 200 is 400,
plus 320 is 720. So the total perimeter is 720
meters, which is the exact same thing as 0.72 kilometers.