Craig has a rectangular wooden desk that measures 799 in by 245 in that he wants to put a string of lights around. What length of lights should he buy?

Question

Help on how to measure this type of question 

Answer 1

Hi Victoria,

 

It sounds like all you need to do is find the perimeter of this rectangular desk, which is

2*(799+245) = x units

Can you find x?

Answer 2

If the string of lights is to go around the entire desk (all four sides), then one need to add up the distance of all 4 sides.  This is the perimeter and is equal to L + L + W + W (where L is length and W is width).  Looking at it another way, it is 2L + 2W.  So you have (2x799 in) + (2x245 in) = 1598 in + 490 in = 2088 inches total length of lights needed.  Converting this to feet you have 2088 inches x 1 foot/12 inches = 174 feet of lights.  That is one big desk.