Question

A long piece of wood of length 2.8 m is broken into 4 pieces with two pieces of length a and the other two pieces of length b. The four pieces are put together to form a rectangle. Find b if your aim is to have a rectangle with the maximum area.

Answer 1

b = 0.7 m

Step-by-step explanation:

Total length of the wooden rod is given as

[Tex]2a + 2b = 2.8 m[/tex]

so we will have

`a + b = 1.4`

now we will have

`Area = ab`

so we have

`A = a(1.4 - a)`

now to find the maximum area

`(dA)/(da) = 0`

`(dA)/(da) = 1.4 - 2a = 0`

`a = 0.7 m`

`b = 0.7 m`