Geometry Perimeter – Real Life Uses

By now, Geometry students in Rancho Santa Margarita have learned how to find the perimeter on various polygons: triangles, quadrilaterals, circles, hexagons, etc.

But a number of students have a hard time applying these Geometry concepts to real life.  They understand a picture of a rectangle, but not a word problem involving a rectangular garden.

A Geometry tutor in Rancho Santa Margarita can use visual aids and other tricks to make word problems easier.

You can do the same with your child at home!

As a refresher, below is a chart that shows how to calculate the perimeter using Geometry for various shapes:

Shape	Formula	Definition   of Variables
circle	2 ∏ r	r is the radius.
triangle	a + b + c	a, b and c are the lengths of the sides of the triangle.
square/rhombus	4a	a is the side length
rectangle	2( h + w )	h is the height and w is the width
equilateral   polygon	n x a	n is the number of sides and a is the length of one of the sides.
regular (all sides equal) polygon	2( nb ) sin (∏ ÷ n)	n is the number of sides and b is the distance between center of the     polygon and one of the vertices of the polygon.
general polygon	a1 + a2 + a3 +…+an = nΣ /i=1  ai	ai  is the length of the   i -th (1st, 2nd, 3rd   … nth) side of an n-sided polygon.

A typical Geometry word problem involving perimeter is as follows:

Jason is going to build a fence around his rectangular yard.  His yard measures 8 yards by 12 yards.  How many yards of fencing should he buy to go around the perimeter of his yard?

A good Geometry tutor will first remind the student that they’re working on perimeter, and drawing the shape in question is a good start.

Having a visual aid (the drawing) can help jog a Geometry student’s memory.

The next step is to look at the shape.  In this case, it’s a rectangle.

 A Geometry Tutor in Rancho Santa Margarita might prompt his or her student to remember the formula for the perimeter of a rectangle  (2h + 2w) and explain that, although the problem mentions a yard, that isn’t important.

A rectangle is a rectangle, whether it’s a yard, a sidewalk, a room in a home, a swimming pool, a picture frame, or any of the other myriads of rectangles that exist in real life.

Using the above formula and algebra, it becomes easy to solve the above equation:

2*8 + 2*12 =

16 + 24 =

40

But what does this number mean?  A Geometry tutor will remind his or her student to review the problem.  In this case, the problem asked for yards of fencing.  Again, the type of object doesn’t matter (the same way the yard did not matter.)  If the perimeter is 40, then the answer is that Jason requires 40 yards of fencing to enclose his yard.

Perimeter can be a difficult Geometry concept to master.

Using perimeter in real life is one way that A Plus In Home Tutors offers Geometry tutoring to help your understanding and improve your grades.

Our Geometry tutors will come to your home in Rancho Santa Margarita, Trabuco Canyon, Mission Viejo, providing tutoring in Geometry and other subjects throughout Orange County.

For a great Geometry Tutor visit our site today at www.APlusInHomeTutors.com.