perimeter = 2 x length + 2 x width or 2(length + width)
and since the perimeter is 24 inches:
24 = 2 x length + 2 x width
12 = length + width
diagonal length = \(\sqrt{l^2 + w^2}\), when l = length and w = width, according to pythagoras' theorem.
since they are both squared, we want a big number (example: 22 + 32 < 12 + 42)
this means to maximize the diagonal, the length is 11 and width is 1. (11 + 1 = 12)
\(\sqrt{11^2 + 1^2} = \sqrt{122} ≈ 11.06\)
hope this helps; tell me if I did anything wrong :)