A candy cane 30 cm high has a circumference of 3 cm. The red “ribbon” makes exactly 4 complete turns round the candy cane while its two ends touch the cane's top and bottom. How long is the ribbon in cm?
It doesn't make any sense to me. Can somebody explain me how to solve it? The ribbon is around the candy cane in a serpentine form.
To solve this problem, we need to use the concept of the circumference of a circle and the number of times the ribbon wraps around the candy cane.
Let's break down the given information:
- The candy cane is 30 cm high, which means its length or height is 30 cm.
- The circumference of the candy cane is 3 cm. Recall that the circumference of a circle is the distance around the circle.
- The ribbon makes exactly 4 complete turns round the candy cane. This means that it wraps around the candy cane four times.
Now, to find the length of the ribbon, we need to calculate the total distance it covers by wrapping around the candy cane four times.
The length of the ribbon for one complete turn around the candy cane is equal to the circumference of the candy cane. Mathematically, we can represent this as:
Length of ribbon for one complete turn = circumference of the candy cane.
Since we are given that the circumference of the candy cane is 3 cm, the length of the ribbon for one complete turn is also 3 cm.
So, to find the total length of the ribbon, we need to multiply the length of the ribbon for one complete turn by the number of turns:
Total length of ribbon = Length of ribbon for one complete turn * Number of turns
Substituting the values into the equation, we get:
Total length of ribbon = 3 cm * 4 turns
Simplifying the equation:
Total length of ribbon = 12 cm
Therefore, the length of the ribbon is 12 cm.
In conclusion, the ribbon is 12 cm long.