Peter is making an "X marks the spot" flag for a treasure hunt. The flag is made of a square white flag with sides of 121212 cen
timeters. He will make the "X" by stretching the red ribbon diagonally from corner to corner. How many centimeters of ribbon will Peter need to make the "X"?
Because you need two diagonals to form the x, therefore the amount of ribbon needed is the sum of the distance of both diagonals.
When crossing the diagonal, a rectangular angle is formed, where the diagonal would be the hypotenuse, we know that the distance of the hypotenuse can be calculated by means of the legs, which we know its value (12):
d ^ 2 = a ^ 2 + b ^ 2
a = b = 12
d ^ 2 = 12 ^ 2 + 12 ^ 2
d ^ 2 = 288
d = 288 ^ (1/2)
d = 16.97
16.97 cm is what it measures, a diagonal, therefore tape is needed:
John’s calculations are not correct. He compared the exact value to the absolute error. The absolute error should be in the numerator and the exact value in the denominator.