Answer:
Debra needs 14 cups of fertilizer.
Explanation:
Step 1: Find the area of Debra's rectangular vegetable garden:
Before we can determine how many cups of fertilizer she needs, we'll need to know the area of Debra's garden. This will tell us how many square yards her garden covers. The formula for the area of a rectangle is given by:
A = lw, where
- A is the area in square units,
- l is the length,
- and w is the width:
Thus, we can plug in 9(1)/(3) for l and 12 for w in the rectangle area formula to find A, the area of Debra's garden in square yards:
A = 9(1)/(3) * 12
A = 112
Thus, the area of Debra's garden is 112 square yards.
Step 2: Create a proportion to find x, the number of cups of fertilizers she needs:
We're told that cups of fertilizer with water are proportional to the square yards of Debra's garden. Thus, we can create a proportion to find x, the number of cups of fertilizer she needs:
(1)/(8) cups / 1 square yard = x cups / 112 square yards
1/8 = x/112
14 = x
Thus, Debra needs 14 cups of fertilizer since her garden covers 112 square yards.