Question

Mara uses 15 square-centimeter tiles to make a rectangle. Ashton uses 9 square-centimeter tiles to make a rectangle. a) Draw what Mara and Ashton's rectangles might look like. b) Whose rectangle has a bigger area? How do you know?

Answer 1

(a) See attachment

(b) Mara's rectangle

Explanation:

Given

Mara

`Area =15cm^2`

Ashton

`Area =9cm^2`

Solving (a): Draw the rectangles

First, we need to calculate the possible dimension of both rectangles.

Area is calculated as:

`Area = Length * Width`

For Mara

`15 = Length * Width`

Possible values of length and width are:

`Length = 5cm`

`Width = 3cm`

This is so because:

`5cm * 3cm = 15cm^2`

For Ashton

`9 = Length * Width`

Possible values of length and width are:

`Length = 4.5cm`

`Width = 2cm`

This is so because:

`4.5cm * 2cm = 9cm^2`

See attachment for diagram

Solving (b): Rectangle with bigger area

Mara's rectangle has a bigger area because
`15cm^2 > 9cm^2`