I need help finding the area of a hexagon with an apothem of 6m. Please show/describe work. Thanks.
Answers (1)
Well, luckily, having an apothem means it's a regular solid, and luckier, a regular hexagon can be subdivided into 6 equilateral triangles
The apothem is a perpendiular bisector of the side of the hexagon and also makes a 30° angle with the subdivided triangles. This means you could figure out the sides of the equilateral triangle and hence the sides of the hexagon using either Pythagoras' theorem or trigonometric ratios
I.e., 6² + (x/2)² = x²
Or
Cos 30° = 6/x
Both should resolve to
X = 4sqrt(3)
Anyway, now you can find the area of the triangle and multiply by 6
A = 6×½bh
= 6×½×6×4sqrt(3)
72×sqrt(3)
124.71 m (2 d.p.)