Answer
a. The shape of the cross section is a rectangle.
b. To find the perimeter of the cross section, we need to determine the length of its sides.
In a cube with an edge length of 6 inches, when a plane intersects diagonally, it creates a rectangle with dimensions of the cube's diagonal and half of its edge length.
The diagonal of the cube can be found using the Pythagorean theorem:
diagonal = √(edge length^2 + edge length^2 + edge length^2) = √(6^2 + 6^2 + 6^2) = √(36 + 36 + 36) = √108 ≈ 10.39 inches
The length and width of the rectangle are half of the edge length, which is 6/2 = 3 inches.
Since the cross section is a rectangle, its perimeter is given by:
perimeter = 2 * (length + width) = 2 * (3 + 10.39) ≈ 26.78 inches
Therefore, the perimeter of the cross section, to the nearest hundredth, is approximately 26.78 inches.
c. To find the area of the cross section, we multiply the length and width of the rectangle:
area = length * width = 3 * 10.39 ≈ 31.17 square inches
Therefore, the area of the cross section, to the nearest hundredth, is approximately 31.17 square inches.
Explanation: