The base of a regular pyramid is a hexagon. The figure shows a regular hexagon with center C. An apothem is shown as a dashed segment perpendicular to an edge and is labeled as a. A dashed line segment joins the center with the left vertex of the edge perpendicular to the apothem. This segment has a length of 12 centimeters. The angle formed by the apothem and the segment measures 30 degrees. What is the area of the base of the pyramid? Enter your answer in the box. Express your answer in radical form. cm²

Answer: 294√3

Explanation:


1) The described hexagon has these featrues:
a) 6 congruent equilateral triangles whose side lengths measure 14
b) height of each triangle = apotema = a
c) the area of each triangle is base × a / 2 = 14 × a / 2 = 7a


2) a is one leg of a right triangle whose other leg is 14 / 2 = 7, and the hypotenuse is 14.

3) Then you can use Pythagorean theorem fo find a:

14² = 7² + a² ⇒ a² = 14² - 7² = 147 ⇒ a = √ 147 = 7√3

4) Therefore, the area of one triangle is: 14 × 7√3  / 2 = 49√3

5) And the area of the hexagon is 6 times that: 6 × 49√3 = 294√3