Question

A 26-by-27-inch sheet of paper is to be used for a poster, with the shorter side at the bottom. Find the width of the margins if the printed area is to be 360 in2.

Answer 1

Explanation:

Let the width of the margins as x.

So, we subtract 'x' width on each side of the paper.

So, length = 26-x-x= 26-2 x

Width = 27-x-x=27-2 x

Now, it is given printed area is 360

We can set up equation using length x width = Area

(26-2 x)(27-2 x) = 360

Multiply the left side using FOIL method,

702 -52 x-54 x+4 x^2 =360

Combine like terms

702-106x+4x^2=360

Subtract both sides 360

4x^2-106x+342 =0

Let's divide both sides by 2 to simplify

2x^2 -53x+171=0

Let's use quadratic formula to solve.

I'll upload the file for this.

There are two possible values for x.

Approximately x= 22.46 , x=3.76

Here x=3.76 works b