surface area of polygons: regular square, apothem of 12

[blondie034]

i have a regular square with an apothem of 12cm.
can i use this to find the area? if not can you tell what i'm doing wrong?

i disected the square into four triangles then took 360 degrees and divided it by 4 to get 90 then that by 2 to get 45.
so i have a 45 45 90 triangle with the apothem as the loger leg and half of the side of the square as the shorter leg.
okay now wht i am stuck.

 

[mmm4444bot]

Yes, you can use the length of the apothem to find the area of the square.

The apothem of a square is the line segment drawn from its center to the midpoint of any side.

If the length of the apothem is given as 12, then the side length of that square is obvious. (If it's not obvious to you, then draw a picture and use the definition above!)

Let me know if you still need help with this exercise.