Find the length

Question

A farmer wants to fence a rectangular area of 50 sq ft next a river . Find the length and width. Assuming the length is parallel to the river

Answer 1

Area = Length times Width

A=LW = 50

there are two sides for the width, one side for the length, given the river side replacing the length on one side

so you need half as much fencing for the width: L=2W

2W(W) =50

W^2 = 25

W = 5 feet wide

L= 2W = 10 feet long

for minimum fencing to get 50 ft^2 area