Question

A gardener uses 76 ft. Of fencing to enclose a rectangular shaped garden. The width of the garden is 2 ft. Shorter than 3 times it's length. Let x represent the length and write an equation to find the dimensions of the garden. What is the width?

Answer 1

• 76 = 2(x + (3x-2))
• 28 ft

Explanation:

Since x represents the length in feet, and the width is 2 ft shorter than 3 times the length, the width is 3x-2.

The perimeter is twice the sum of length and width, so we can write the equation ...

76 = 2(x + (3x-2))

38 = 4x -2 . . . . . divide by 2, simplify

40 = 4x . . . . . . . .add 2

10 = x . . . . . . . . . the length of the garden is 10 ft

The width of the garden is ...

3·10 -2 = 28 . . . feet

The width of the garden is 28 feet.