Question

Mr peterson will buy 80 feet of fencing. The pieces of fence come in whole numbers of feet. His enclosure will be a rectangle and have 4 sides. If he wants to enclose the least area, what should be the length, width, and area?

Answer 1

The perimeter is:
P = 2x + 2y = 80
The area is:
A = x * y
The area as a function of a variable is:
A (x) = x * (40-x)
Rewriting we have:
A (x) = 40x-x ^ 2
We derive the function:
A '(x) = 40-2x
We equal zero and clear x:
40-2x = 0
2x = 40
x = 40/2
x = 20 feet
The other dimension is:
y = 40 - x
y = 40 - 20
y = 20 feet
The area will be:
A = x * y
A = 20 * 20
A = 400 feet ^ 2
Answer:
The dimensions are:
x = 20 feet
y = 20 feet
The area is:
A = 400 feet ^ 2