Parallelogram ABCD: Finding Side Length BC with 35cm Perimeter

Question

Shown below is the parallelogram ABCD, which has a perimeter of 35 cm.

What is the length of the side BC?

9.59.59.5AAABBBCCCDDD

Video Solution

Solution Steps

00:00 Find BC
00:04 Opposite sides are equal in a parallelogram
00:14 Let's mark the unknown sides with X
00:23 The perimeter of the parallelogram equals the sum of sides
00:33 Let's substitute appropriate values according to the given data and solve for X
01:05 Isolate X
01:16 And this is the solution to the question

Step-by-Step Solution

To solve this problem, we'll follow these steps:

  • Step 1: Identify the given information
  • Step 2: Apply the appropriate formula
  • Step 3: Perform the necessary calculations

Now, let's work through each step:
Step 1: The problem gives us that the parallelogram has a total perimeter of 35 cm and one side AB=9.5AB = 9.5 cm.
Step 2: We'll use the formula for the perimeter of a parallelogram: P=2(a+b) P = 2(a + b) , where aa and bb are adjacent sides. Here, given that AB=9.5AB = 9.5 cm, we have a=9.5a = 9.5 cm.
Step 3: Substitute the known values into the formula:
35=2(9.5+b) 35 = 2(9.5 + b)
Divide both sides by 2:
17.5=9.5+b 17.5 = 9.5 + b
Solve for bb:
b=17.59.5=8 b = 17.5 - 9.5 = 8

Therefore, the length of side BCBC is 8\mathbf{8} cm.

Answer

8 cm