Peter is making an "X marks the spot" flag for a treasure hunt. The flag is made of a square white flag with sides of 121212 centimeters. He will make the "X" by stretching red ribbon diagonally from corner to corner.
How many centimeters of ribbon will Peter need to make the "X"?
To find the length of the ribbon, we need to find the diagonal of the square.
Using the Pythagorean theorem, we can find the diagonal:
diagonal^2 = side^2 + side^2
diagonal^2 = 12^2 + 12^2
diagonal^2 = 144 + 144
diagonal^2 = 288
diagonal = sqrt(288)
diagonal = 16.97 (rounded to two decimal places)
The "X" will require two diagonals, so the total length of ribbon Peter needs is:
2 x diagonal = 2 x 16.97 = 33.94 cm (rounded to two decimal places)
Therefore, Peter will need approximately 33.94 centimeters of ribbon to make the "X" on the flag.