Perimeter & Area

Problem

Find perimeter path length by multiplication

Five trees are planted at equal spacing all the way around the edge of a round (oval) pond, and each gap between neighboring trees is 14 m. We must find the distance all the way around the pond.
14 m
Measurement & dataOperations
Your answer
m
How to solve
Strategy Draw a Diagram — The figure shows trees around a closed loop. On a closed loop the number of gaps equals the number of trees (unlike a straight line), so the perimeter is simply the number of gaps times the gap length.
1STEP 1

Count the gaps on a closed loop

Because the path closes back to the start, the number of gaps between trees equals the number of trees: 5 trees make 5 gaps.

5 trees → 5 gaps
2STEP 2

Multiply gaps by the spacing

Each of the 5 equal gaps is 14 m, so the distance all the way around is 5 times 14.

5 × 14 = 70 m
Answer
70 m
5 × 14 = 70 m
Five gaps of 14 m total 70 m. If this were a straight line of 5 trees there would be only 4 gaps (56 m), but a closed pond has the same number of gaps as trees, so 70 m is correct and a reasonable distance around a pond.
Takeaway

Around a closed loop the gaps equal the trees, so 5 gaps of 14 m means 5 times 14 = 70 m!

  • Count the gaps on a closed loop
  • Multiply gaps by the spacing
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