Math on the Spot

Question

A nursery manager is buying fencing to enclose three sides of a garden, with two short sides and one long side. The garden is a rectangle with sides 2x and 3x, where x is feet. The area of the garden is 3000 square feet. The manager can buy fencing in whole feet only. How many feet of fencing should he buy? Be sure to show all work and formulas

Answer 1

area = length * width = 2x * 3x = 6x^2 = 3000

x^2 = 500

x = 10*sqrt(5)

length of short side is 2x = 20*sqrt(5)

length of long side is 3x = 30*sqrt(5)

length of 2 short sides + 1 long sides = 70*sqrt(5)