Need help on a very simple geometry problem

[Modernization]

Homework Statement

a side of a regular hexagon is twice the square root of its apothem. Find the length of the apothem and the side

Homework Equations

a formula for special triangle
90 degree side is doubled the 30 degree side, and 60 degree side is root 3 times the 30 degree side

The Attempt at a Solution

after drawing the pictures and do the math, i got:
side: 2 times square root of a; a stands for apothem, an unknown value
apothem: square root of a times square root of three

 

[gammamcc]

How about making a formula for the ratio length of side and apothem? Replace the side length of the hexagon from the info. Solve.

 

[HallsofIvy]

Homework Statement

a side of a regular hexagon is twice the square root of its apothem. Find the length of the apothem and the side

Homework Equations

a formula for special triangle
90 degree side is doubled the 30 degree side, and 60 degree side is root 3 times the 30 degree side

The Attempt at a Solution

after drawing the pictures and do the math, i got:
side: 2 times square root of a; a stands for apothem, an unknown value
apothem: square root of a times square root of three

In your second line, you say that "a stands for apothem" (You mean that a stands for the length of the apothem- let's be precise!) but in the third line you say "apothem: square root of a times square root of three". Obviously a is not the length of the apothem in that line; what is a?

 

[Modernization]

In your second line, you say that "a stands for apothem" (You mean that a stands for the length of the apothem- let's be precise!) but in the third line you say "apothem: square root of a times square root of three". Obviously a is not the length of the apothem in that line; what is a?

My answer was wrong. I'm guessing there's another method to solve this, like plugging in numbers... Instead of making X the unknown value, i used "a" .

 

[gammamcc]

woah!

Try this
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Apothem.html

and this

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apothem