A problem by Engin Akpinar
For a project in Home Economics class, Kirk is making a tablecloth for a circular table 3 feet in diameter. The finished tablecloth needs to be hang down 5 inches over the edge of the table all the way around. To finish the edge of the tablecloth, Kirk will fold under and sew down 1 inch of the material all around the edge. Kirk is going to use a single piece of rectangular fabric that is 60 inches wide. What is the shortest length of fabric, in inches, Kirk could use to make the tablecloth without putting any separate pieces of fabric together?
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1 solution
Before doing anything else, make sure you convert all your measurements into the same scale. Because we are working mainly with inches, convert the table with a 3 foot diameter into a table with a ( 3 ) ( 1 2 ) = ( 3 6 ) inch diameter.
Now we know that the tablecloth must hang an additional 5 + 1 inches on EVERY side, so our full length of the tablecloth, in any straight line, will be:
1 + 5 + 3 6 + 5 + 1 = 4 8 i n c h e s .