Question

Carran is building a fence around his rectangular yard. The fence will cover the front and the 2 sides of the yard. The

front of the yard is 4 feet more than twice the length of one side of the yard. The sides of the yard are the same length. If
the perimeter of the yard is 80 feet, what are the dimensions of the fence?

Answer 1

9514 1404 393

Answer:

• sides: 12 feet
• front: 28 feet

Explanation:

Let x represent the length of one side of the yard. Then the width of the yard is 2x+4, and the perimeter is ...

P = 2(L +W) . . . . . . . . . . formula for perimeter of a rectangle

80 = 2(x + (2x+4)) . . . . . with values from the problem filled in

40 = 3x +4 . . . . . . . . divide by 2, collect terms

36 = 3x . . . . . . . . . subtract 4

12 = x . . . . . . . . . divide by 3. This is the length of the side fence.

2x +4 = 2(12) +4 = 28

The fence is 12 feet on the sides and 28 feet on the front. (Its total length is 52 feet.)