Question

Twenty-four 4-inch wide square posts are evenly spaced with 5 feet between adjacent posts to enclose a square field, as shown. What is the outer perimeter, in feet, of the fence? Express your answer as a mixed number.

Answer 1

Answer:

129 1/3

Step-by-step explanation:

According to Alcumus, "There are 20 square posts which are not on a corner, so there are $20/4=5$ square posts on each side, not including the corner posts. Including the corner posts, there are 7 posts on a side, which means that there are 6 five-foot gaps between posts. Altogether the length of a side is $7\left(\frac{1}{3}\right)+6(5)=32\frac{1}{3}$ feet. The perimeter of the square is four times the side length, so the perimeter is $4\cdot 32\frac{1}{3}=\boxed{129\frac{1}{3}}$ feet."