A wire of length 380 cm is cut into 10 pieces.Each piece is then bent to form a square.The dimensions of the first three smallest squares are shown below.Find the value of x and hence,the area of the eighth largest square.

Question

x cm[ ] (x+1)cm [ ]
x cm (x+1)cm

(x+2)cm[ ]
(x+2)cm

Answer: x=5
Area=144cm

Answer 1

clearly the lengths of the sides are sequential integers, starting with x.

The sum of the perimeters is thus

4(10x + 9*10/2) = 40x+180 = 380
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