http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States The wikipedia says the United States is 3.7 million square miles, for example. So how do you figure out how many miles each side of it is? I'm just using this as an example, is 36 square miles 6 miles a side or 36 miles a side? I think the US is about roughly 3,000 miles wide at the most. The entire earth isn't 3.7 million miles a side. I just don't get it.
2006-06-24 18:58:27 · 13 answers · asked by Professor Armitage 7 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
Thank you Keith P. When you see a figure given in square miles just put it in and hit the square root button to get the width and height. Thanks!
2006-06-24 19:08:39 · update #1
36 square miles could also be 9 miles long and 4 miles wide. I understand perfectly now.
2006-06-25 12:34:41 · update #2
One square mile is the area in a square whose sides are each 1 mile long.
36 square miles is a square that is 6 miles by 6 miles. If you had a square 36 miles wide by 36 miles, it would be 36 x 36 = 1296 square miles.
If the USA were exactly 3000 miles wide by 1233 miles, that would make it 3000 x 1233 = 3.7 million square miles.
2006-06-24 19:03:46 · answer #1 · answered by Keith P 7 · 18⤊ 2⤋
A square mile is a square with each side one mile long.
If you were to run around the outside edge of a square mile you would run 4 miles.
36 square miles would be an area 6 miles wide by 6 miles long or 1 mile wide by 36 miles long, or 2 miles wide by 18 miles long, etc.
2006-06-24 19:12:51 · answer #2 · answered by jimminycricket 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Okay, say you have a square that is an inch on each side. This is a square inch. If you have a square that is two inches on each side, you would have four square inches inside of that bigger square. Miles work the same way. Just remember, the area in question doesn't have to be a square. You can have a rectangle that is two inches in length and three inches in width. This would make six square inches.
What you are basically doing is multiply the length of each side. (2 inches x 2 inches=4 square inches, 2 inches x 3 inches = 6 square inches). The square mileage of the US is done in the same way.
2006-06-24 19:04:49 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
a square mile is 5,280 feet x 4 Think of a square box being equal on all four sides and each side is 5,280 feet. 36 divided by 4 is 9 miles on each side.
Don't let the large numbers scare you and don't think about the earth with all of the land mass curves, etc. Just make a box, put a number on one side and divide by 4.
This is the simplest way to look at this with out getting into all the calculus stuff.
2006-06-24 19:05:13 · answer #4 · answered by jv1104 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, a sq. mi. is a mile by a mile, but this is a measure of area, not a linear measure of distance. Think of it this way: If you cut a piece of paper 12 inches by 12 inches, the area of the surface is 144 sq in or 1 sq foot. As far as the US goes, it is about 3000 mi long by about 1200 mi wide, so when you multiply that out you get about 3.7 million sq mi. of surface land area.
2006-06-24 19:07:27 · answer #5 · answered by druid 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A square mile is an Imperial unit / U.S. customary unit of area equal to that of a square with sides each 1 statute mile (5,280 feet, 1,760 yards, 1,609.344 metres) in length. It is not an SI or metric unit and is used primarily in the United States and Canada. The SI unit of area is the square metre.
2006-06-24 19:01:24 · answer #6 · answered by Bolan 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is a square made around a mile. so go north one mile, then west one mile, then south one mile, and finally east one mile to meet up with where you started; all the area in the middle makes up a square mile.
2006-06-24 21:29:27 · answer #7 · answered by phyneassmamma 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
x miles * y miles = (xy)square miles
basically its taking the total area and giving you it in square miles.
If you were to take the square miles of each state and add it all up you would get US in square miles.
6 miles wide and 6 miles long would be 36 square miles.
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Area (2000): total: 3,794,083 sq mi (9,826,675 sq km), land only: 3,537,438 sq mi (9,161,964 sq km), water: 256,645 sq mi (664,711 sq km). Share of world land area (1990): 6.2%
www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0004924.html
since the US isn't straight in length or width, you just have to add up all the square miles there are. Don't forget to include Alaska and Hawaii in your calculations.
2006-06-24 19:20:49 · answer #8 · answered by Sherman81 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It would be 6 miles on each side.
2006-06-24 19:02:50 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
imagine a square,
this has 4 equal side
and each of these sides measures one mile
this is a square mile.
strange ,---------------but true
36 square miles is 36 times a square of 1 mile each side
i give up you got me confused as well
2006-06-24 19:04:06 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋