PS question

[thecoolguy]

The sides of a square region, measured to the
nearest centimeter, are 6 centimeters long. The
least possible value of the actual area of the
square region is

A.36.00 sq cm
B.35.00 sq cm
C.33.75 sq cm
D.30.25 sq cm
E.25.00 sq cm

This seems to be pretty simple question, but the answer given is C, which I cannot understand. What should be the correct answer?

[Stuart@KaplanGMAT]

The sides of a square region, measured to the
nearest centimeter, are 6 centimeters long. The
least possible value of the actual area of the
square region is

A.36.00 sq cm
B.35.00 sq cm
C.33.75 sq cm
D.30.25 sq cm
E.25.00 sq cm

This seems to be pretty simple question, but the answer given is C, which I cannot understand. What should be the correct answer?

I get (D) 30.25

The smallest we can make the length of a side is 5.5 cm (which would get rounded up to 6cm) and 5.5 * 5.5 = 30.25.

[pranavc]

Are you sure the answer is C? I get D too and it seems pretty straightforward.

[Sunny22uk]

The answer should be a definite D as for C to be the answer, each side should be 5.81.On the other hand, 5.5 can be rounded to 6.

[gmatisgay]

how bout ans choice (E)?

[MBA.Aspirant]

To get the least area possible you need the least side possible and that's 5.5

if the area is 25 and side = 5.0 it doesn't round up to 6

[Scott@TargetTestPrep]

The sides of a square region, measured to the
nearest centimeter, are 6 centimeters long. The
least possible value of the actual area of the
square region is

A.36.00 sq cm
B.35.00 sq cm
C.33.75 sq cm
D.30.25 sq cm
E.25.00 sq cm

This seems to be pretty simple question, but the answer given is C, which I cannot understand. What should be the correct answer?

The least side length of the square is 5.5 cm long (notice that 5.5 cm can be rounded to 6 cm when rounded to the nearest centimeter), so the least possible value of the area of the square is 5.5^2 = 30.25 sq cm.

Answer: D