The ratio of the surface areas of two similar solids is [tex]16:144[/tex]. What is the ratio of their corresponding side lengths?

A. [tex]\frac{16}{12}:12[/tex]
B. [tex]1:96[/tex]
C. [tex]4:9[/tex]
D. [tex]4:12[/tex]



Answer :

To determine the ratio of the side lengths of two similar solids given the ratio of their surface areas is \(16:144\), follow these steps:

### Step 1: Understand the Surface Area-to-Side Length Relationship
For similar solids, the ratio of their surface areas is the square of the ratio of their corresponding side lengths. This is because the surface area of a solid depends on the square of its linear dimensions.

### Step 2: Calculate the Side Length Ratios
Given the ratio of the surface areas is \(16:144\), we need to find the square roots of these numbers to determine the ratio of the side lengths.

#### Surface Area Ratio:
[tex]\[ \frac{16}{144} \][/tex]

#### Corresponding Side Length Ratios:
Taking the square root of each part of the ratio:
[tex]\[ \sqrt{16} = 4 \][/tex]
[tex]\[ \sqrt{144} = 12 \][/tex]

Thus, the ratio of the side lengths is:
[tex]\[ \frac{4}{12} \][/tex]

### Step 3: Simplify the Ratio
To simplify the ratio \( \frac{4}{12} \):
[tex]\[ \frac{4}{12} = \frac{1}{3} \][/tex]

### Step 4: Interpret the Simplified Ratio
Thus, the ratio of the corresponding side lengths of the two similar solids is \(1:3\).

### Step 5: Match with the Given Options
Out of the given options, the correctly simplified ratio \(1:3\) matches none of the provided options directly. However, the closest correct mathematical interpretation we derived matches with option:
[tex]\[ \boxed{None of the above} \][/tex]

However, based on common understanding of the given answer choices, none of them correctly represent the simplified side length ratio \(1:3\). The precise answer is:

[tex]\[ 1:3 \][/tex]

Therefore, the ratio of their corresponding side lengths is [tex]\(1:3\)[/tex].

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