Two paper strips each 5 cm wide are laid across each other at an angle of 30 degrees. Determine the area of the overlapping area.

I have no idea where to start with this question or how to go on. I know it has to do with cosine or sine law. But what do I do

1 answer

take two identical rulers and lay them across each other at 30° to get a mental image of the problem.

Is the overlapping area not a rhombus with acute angles of 30° and obtuse angles of 150° ?

So make that sketch, all 4 sides are equal, label them x

draw a vertical from the obtuse angle to the base, you now have a 30-60-90° triangle where the side opposite the 30° is 5 cm
You should know that the ratio of sides of the 30-60-90 is 1:√3:2
x/√3 = 5/1
x = 5√3

and the area would be base x height
= (5√3)(5) = 25√3