Question

A school is installing a flagpole in the central plaza. The plaza is a square with side length 100 yards as shown in the figure below. The flagpole will take up a square plot in the middle of the plaza and its base will have an area of x2−10x+25 yd2. Find the length of the base of the flagpole by factoring. (Hint: Because the area of the flagpole is an expression that involves the variable x , the length of the base will also involve the variable x .)

Answer 1

Area of the base of the flagpole is a square

The formula will be

`\begin{gathered} Area=l^2 \\ \\ l=length\text{ of the flagpole} \end{gathered}`

From the question

`\begin{gathered} Area=x^2-10x+25 \\ \\ Area=(x-5)^2 \\ \\ l^2=(x-5)^2 \\ \\ l=x-5 \end{gathered}`

Therefore, the length is

`(x-5)yd`