Area, Perimeter of a Polyomino
Date: 09/03/97 at 00:55:36 From: Whitney Mans Subject: Polyominos How do you figure the area of a polyomino? How do you figure the perimeter of a polynomino? Thank you very much.
Date: 09/03/97 at 05:51:26 From: Doctor Mitteldorf Subject: Re: Polyominos Dear Whitney, Polyominos are figures that you can make out of squares. You can put three squares together to make a "triomino" or four to make a "tetromino"or five to make a "pentomino," and there are many more kinds of polyominos. Just for example, it's easy to think of using squares that are 1 inch on each side. Then the area of each square is 1 square inch. If you put 5 squares together to make a pentomino, then the area is 5 square inches. The area of a pentomino is just how many squares you've put together. The perimeter is a little harder. You have to trace around the figure you make, and count how many inches go around it. Think of an ant walking around the outside edge: how many inches would he walk to get all the way around to the place he started. It's easy to see that with squares 1 inch on each side, all pentominos have an area of 5 square inches. Do they have the same perimeter, too? Try making a few pentomino shapes on paper, and count how many inches to go around them. -Doctor Mitteldorf, The Math Forum Check out our web site! http://mathforum.org/dr.math/
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