The figure above shows a regular hexagon with sides of length a and a square with sides of length a. If
the area of the hexagon is 384/3 square inches,
what is the area, in square inches, of the square?
A) 256
B) 192
C) 64/3
D) 16/3

, and

for

step-by-step explanation:

we can analyze the pattern at which the terms increase. let us denote , , , so that we can call

note the following:

the pattern: to get the next term value, we just add the next term number (e.g. 1st, 2nd, to the previous term value (term values are the given numbers in the question, 1, 3, 6, 10, 15,

from , to get to , we add

from , to get to , we add

etc.

we need to form a recursive formula, a formula that has the next term as a function of the previous term. so a possible recursive formula can be

, and for

explanation:

previous steps have made pa≅ pb ≅ st ≅ su. setting the compass width to ab allows you to make tu the same length. then δstu ≅ δpab by the sss congruence postulate, and ∠p ≅ ∠s by the reason cpctc.