An artist wants to cover in gold leaf a card with the initial letter shown. Decompose the letter into simple shapes to find the area. How many square centimeters of gold leaf will the artist need? Do not round your answer.

Answer 1

In order to find the area of the initial letter, let's decompose it into simple shapes: a rectangle and a triangle.

Given the initial letter shown is "A" in a square frame:

The rectangle has dimensions 2 cm x 1 cm
The triangle has base 1 cm and height 1 cm

First, let's calculate the area of the rectangle:
Area of rectangle = length x width = 2 cm x 1 cm = 2 square cm

Next, let's calculate the area of the triangle:
Area of triangle = 1/2 x base x height = 1/2 x 1 cm x 1 cm = 0.5 square cm

Therefore, the total area of the initial letter is:
Total area = area of rectangle + area of triangle = 2 square cm + 0.5 square cm = 2.5 square cm

So, the artist will need 2.5 square centimeters of gold leaf to cover the initial letter "A".