Maths Conversion

[BlueToffee]

OK, brain dead today.

Can anybody please help me convert a perimeter of 180 metres into square metres, it's a plot of land.

Thanks in advance.

[gingejbee]

It's not even a maths "conversion"....it's a calculation (with insufficient information)!

[gness]

Then you and I must never buy land together, Zacs....for I know nothing unless it's crocheted.........☺

[bibblebub]

cooeee peter pedant pickled pepper picker - i made the assumption that the plot was rectilinear, which is usually the case

[BlueToffee]

Thank you all for your contributions to this thread, very much appreciated.

The reason for the question in the first place is that the estate agent has the plot sized as 1368 sq m, whereas I was of the understanding that it was around 1650 sq m. As I am considering selling the property the size of plot makes a difference to the asking price.

Incidentally, the two shorter lengths were the width of the plot.

Again, grateful thanks, even to gness for his suggestion!

[Zacs-Master]

The shorter sides are always the width otherwise they'd be the length, which is always longest. I don't think there's any way the length of the sides you gave could add up to that area. Did you miss a '0' off?

[jim360]

I think it's the usual clash between "square metres" and "meters squared", in the sense of this post:

http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/58423.html

So, probably, the sq. m in BlueToffee's approach is the standard "m^2".

[gingejbee]

I don't think it's anything to do with "metres squared"....however you decide to spell "metres".

[gness]

Thanks to Gness for HIS suggestion????

Now I know why I can't pull.....:-(

[jim360]

As far as I can tell I've found the closed formula to the problem, and can that tell you that, in SI units, the area can range between about 180 m^2 and 1878 m^2 depending on the precise arrangement of the sides. This includes both the estate agent's area value and your own -- to be more precise, then, we'll need to know the exact shape of your plot. In particular, you should measure one or other of the longest diagonals (corner to opposite corner).

[BlueToffee]

Sorry gness!

[gness]

That's okay, Blue.....I obviously need a closer shave......☻

[boxtops]

well, I opted for 180 sq m right at the beginning of the thread, LOL

[factor-fiction]

I wish I'd seen this thread. Yes, the shape is definitely relevant. As PP and others have said a circle gives the largest area, and if it's a quadrilateral the maximum area is a square and the minimum area is a long extremely narrow strip.

I agree it's a difficult concept. If I make a square out of 4 lollipop sticks of pinned together at the ends it gives me a particular area. But as I adjust the shape into a rhombus it gives me a smaller area even though the perimeter has not changed. It seems counter-intuitive perhaps, but it's true.

Consider a square field with 4 sides of 10m. The fence round it would be 10+10+10+10= 40m long. The area of the field would be 10 x10 =100m².
Now change the field size to 15m x 5 m. The perimeter fence is still 40m long (15+5+15+5) but the area is now only 15x5 =75m²

[heathfield]

Blue, the figure you give shows the land to be in the shape of a quadrilateral figure with no two sides equal. That makes it complicated. If the sides are straight, the shape has to be divided into a rectanglular area that fits within the perimeter, with the remaining areas forming triangles. The rectangle and triangular areas have to be measured separately, their areas calculated, and added together to gain the total.