A sheet of 4 ft by 12 ft metal costs $115.00 If I cut it to a 3 ft x 3 ft piece, how do I figure the cost of the cut piece?

Question

need to calculate how much a piece of metal costs after it has been cut down.

Answer 1

The area of the original piece is 4 ft x 12 ft = 48 sq.ft and costs $115.00

The area of the new piece is 3 ft x 3 ft = 9 sq. ft and costs ?

 

This is best solved using a proportion because we have two areas and two associated costs.

 

let x = cost of the cut piece

 

$115.00/48 sq ft = x / 9 sq ft     cross multiply when you have a proportion

 

48x = 9(115)

 

Now you can solve for x which is the cost of the cut piece.

 

Answer 2

4 X 12 = 48

 

115.00/48 = $2.39 ($2.40)

 

3 X 3 = 9

 

$2.39 X 9 = $21.56