For today’s puzzle, we’ll have a nice blend of geometry and algebra, the visual and the abstract. Geometry is easily applicable to the real world, whether you’re playing billiards or building a skyscraper. And it’s often the case that a bit of proficiency in algebra is required to solve a geometry problem. Hence, algebra also affects our daily lives. Hopefully, this puzzle (and ones to follow) will give you a boost towards mastery of these two math disciplines.
The square shown below is cut into six congruent rectangles. If two shapes are congruent, that means that they have exactly same side lengths and interior angles. In other words, they are exactly the same size and shape! So, given that the perimeter of each of these six rectangles is 112 units, what is the side length of the larger square?
If you need to brush up on the perimeter of a rectangle, just check out our tutorial here. Good luck and have fun!
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This could very well be an SAT question. If it were one of the grid-in problems, it would indeed require algebra. However, if it were one of the multiple-choice questions, you could also test the answer choices.