the question is on the description box.

Question

At a craft store, fabric comes in bolts that are a fixed number of inches wide. You can only buy fabric by the whole yard. If each bolt is 48 in. wide, what is the least amount of each color that you need to buy? Explain.

Answer 1

Hello Ana

I hope this can help you conceptually on optimization and the area of rectangular objects. Here the question is posed how much is the least amount of fabric needed.

We are given the constant width (48in) and the minimum length (1yd) of each fabric piece.

lets try to get both of these components into equal units.

1yd = 3 ft

1 ft = 12 in

1yd = 3ft = 36 in #therefore the minimum length per fabric strip is 36 inches

Now that we have the length and width of each fabric strip we can plug into the formula...

area = width*length

a = 36in*48in

a = 1728in^2

The area is the least amount of fabric purchased in one strip. If you want to have more strips (for different colors) then all you have to do is simply multiply by whole numbers.

For example, if I want to have the three colors red, white, and blue then, I would multiply the minimum area by 3

(1728in^2) * 3 = 5184 in^2

Please, let me know if this helped you conceptually. I am here to help and it is always nice to know if I am making a difference.

Answer 2

It sounds like the shortest length to buy is 36"; so 36*48=1728sq/in