Answer:
His method is incorrect. By finding 1/2 the width and 1/2 the length, if we multiply them , we would get 1/4 of the original area.
Area = 0.5*l*0.5*w = 0.25*l*w = l*w/4
Let us establish
length = l
width = w
Original Area = l*w
Half the area = (a*l)*(b*w) = 0.5*(l*w)
This means that
a*b = 0.5
if b is equal to a, then
a = √0.5 = √2/2 = 0.707
Then, if a factor of a, where to be introduced in the lenght and width of the tile, we would obtain half the area.