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The back of Alisha's property is a creek. Alisha would like to enclose a rectangular area, using the creek as one side and fencing for the other three sides, to create a pasture. If there is 380 feet of fencing available, what is the maximum possible area of the pasture?

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Answer:

18050 square feet

Explanation:

Let x represent the length of fence parallel to the creek. Then the remaining 380-x feet of fence is divided between the two ends of the pasture. The area will be the product ...

A = (x)(1/2)(380 -x)

The graph of this is a parabola that opens downward. It has x-intercepts at x=0 and x=380. The vertex (maximum) will be on the line of symmetry, halfway between these zeros, at x = (0 +380)/2 = 190.

Then the area is ...

A = (190 ft)(1/2)(380 -190 ft) = (190 ft²)/2 = 18,050 ft²

The maximum possible area of the pasture is 18,050 square feet.

The back of Alisha's property is a creek. Alisha would like to enclose a rectangular-example-1
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