SOLUTION: I want to surround my 16 ft diameter,round,above ground swimming pool with sheets of 4 by 8 plywood to prevent my dogs from tearing its exterior liner, and make it decent looking

Question 322436: I want to surround my 16 ft diameter,round,above ground swimming pool with sheets of 4 by 8 plywood to prevent my dogs from tearing its exterior liner, and make it decent looking by building a multi-sided polygon that will just sit against the exterior, not support the pool in any way. How many sides do I use (6, 7 or 8)for the best "fit" and what is the formula to calculate the length of each side so it the design is symmetrical. And, what is the circumference of a 6 and a 7 sided figure with 8 foot sides?
With heartfelt gratitude, of thee math wizards, I humbly request.
John D. Hendricks 1 818 360 3606 skyranch@earthlink.com

Answer by scott8148(6628) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
the distance from the center of a regular polygon to the midpoint any side is called the APOTHEM

using the formula from this page (http://www.mathopenref.com/polygonapothem.html)
___ you can custom design as you see fit

a quick calculation shows that if you use 7 sides without cutting the 4X8 sheets
___ you will have about 4 inches of clearance on all sides of a 16 ft diameter
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