Question

each side of a small square gym is 17 meters long. a square classroom has half the area of the gym. how long is each side of the classroom? you may say what numbers the answer is between (MCC.8.EE.2,MCC.8.EE.7) (hint: figure out the area of the small square gym)

Answer 1

If the gym is a square with 17 meters sides, its area is given (as any other square) by the square of the side:

$A_{gym} = 17^2 = 289 \text{ m}^2$

So, the area of the classroom is

$A_{class} = \dfrac{289}{2}=144.5 \text{ m}^2$

We can deduce the side of the classroom only assuming that it is a square as well: if this is the case, the side of a square with given area is the square root of the area, so we have

$s_{class} = \sqrt{144.5} \approx 12.02 \text{ m}$