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Geometry
The total area of the 64 small squares of a chessboard is 400 cm². There is a 3 cm wide border around the chessboard. What is the length of each side of the chessboard?
Explanation and memory cue
The total area of the 64 small squares is 400 cm², so each small square has an area of 400/64 = 6.25 cm². The side length of each small square is √6.25 = 2.5 cm. The chessboard has 8 squares per side, so its side length without the border is 8 × 2.5 = 20 cm. Adding the 3 cm border on each side adds 6 cm total, so the full side length is 20 + 6 = 26 cm. However, the question asks for the length of each side of the chessboard itself, which is 20 cm (without the border). Therefore, the correct answer is 20 cm (option B). Since the original correct answer was D (26 cm), which includes the border, but the question asks for the chessboard side length, the correct answer is B.