Question

Estimate the perimeter of the figure to the nearest whole number.

Answer 1

Answer:  perimeter 28 units

==========================================================

Explanation:

Refer to the diagram below. In figure 1, I'm showing how the purple side A moves outward to the left, and the green side B moves up. This effectively expands the corner out, but we keep the same perimeter (since sides A and B didn't change in length). Apply these sort of steps to each of the four corners and you'll get what you see in figure 2. The purple box has the same perimeter as the orange original figure.

Why go through these steps? Because it's much easier to find the perimeter of a rectangle than the perimeter of some complicated shape like this. The purple rectangle in figure 2 has horizontal length of 8 units, and the vertical width is 6 units.

The perimeter of the purple rectangle is

P = 2*(length+width)

P = 2*(8+6)

P = 2*14

P = 28

Or you could say: 8+6+8+6 = 14+14 = 28

The purple rectangle in figure 2 has perimeter of 28 units, so the orange figure also has the same perimeter.

---------------

Another approach to find the perimeter is to ignore figures 1 and 2, and simply count the number of edges along the outside. You should count 28 in total. I recommend you mark each side counted with a value so you don't lose track.