Question

The base of a rectangle is 3 1/3 feet. The area of this rectangle is 30 square feet. Mark claims the height of the rectangle is 100 feet. What is the correct height?

Answer 1

9 ft

Explanation:

The area of a rectangle is given by the formula ...

A = bh . . . . . area is the product of base and height

Filling in the known numbers, we can solve for the unknown value.

30 ft² = (3 1/3 ft)h

(30 ft²)/(3 1/3 ft) = h . . . . . divide by the coefficient of h

We recognize that 3 1/3 is 10/3, and that division by a fraction is the same as multiplication by its reciprocal, so we have ...

h = (30 ft²)/(10/3 ft) = (30)(3/10) ft

h = 9 ft

The correct height is 9 feet.