Find the area of an equilateral triangle with apothem 7 cm. Round to the nearest whole number.

170 cm2

255 cm2

130 cm2

85 cm2

1 answer

The area of an equilateral triangle can be calculated using the formula: Area = (1/2) * apothem * perimeter

Since the triangle is equilateral, all three sides are equal. Let's denote the side length as x.

The perimeter of the triangle is 3x, and since the apothem is 7 cm, we can use the Pythagorean theorem to find the side length:

(7)^2 + (x/2)^2 = x^2
49 + x^2/4 = x^2
49 = 3x^2/4
196 = 3x^2
x^2 = 196/3
x = √(196/3)
x ≈ 7.54 cm

Now we can find the perimeter = 3x ≈ 22.62 cm

Finally, we can calculate the area:

Area = (1/2) * 7 cm * 22.62 cm ≈ 79.17 cm^2

Rounded to the nearest whole number, the area is 79 cm^2.

Therefore, none of the provided options are correct.