Question

Devon is fencing in a square garden. The length of

each side of the garden is 2x + 3 feet.
a. Show how Devon can use addition to find an
expression that represents the total number of
feet of fencing he needs for all four sides of the
garden. Write the sum in standard form.

Answer 1

Simple: 4(2x+3)= 8x+12

Answer 2

The sum: (2x+3)+(2x+3)+(2x+3)+(2x+3)

Standard form: 8x+12

Explanation:

Since this is a square garden then all four sides of the garden have a equal measure.

The perimeter is the sum of the measurements of the sides of the given figure.

So you can say the perimeter of the garden is (2x+3)+(2x+3)+(2x+3)+(2x+3) or just 4(2x+3).

The question is phrased as if they want you to write the perimeter of the garden as:

(2x+3)+(2x+3)+(2x+3)+(2x+3).

I'm going to reorder using commutative, and associative property since the grouping will also be changed.

(2x+2x+2x+2x)+(3+3+3+3)

Factoring out x in the first ( ) so it easy to see that we just need to do 2+2+2+2:

(2+2+2+2)x+(12)

(8)x+12

8x+12