Question

Taylor is experimenting with the area of rectilinear shapes. She says, "If a shape has an area of 19 cm2, the length of it could be 38cm.

Is she correct? Explain why.

Answer 1

Explanation:

Recall that the formula for the area of a rectangle of length L and width W is

A = LW.

What if the area is 19 cm^2 and the length is 38 cm? Solving the above equation for W, we get

W = A/L

and if we let A = 19 cm^2 and L = 38 cm, then W would be W = (19 cm^2) ? (38 cm) = (1/2) cm. The rectangle would be very narrow, but certainly possible.