Michael is making a garden. He is putting wood edges around it. The wood comes in two sizes. One size is twice the size of the other. If the area of the garden is 18m2 . How long are the sides of his garden?
Write algebraic expressions and then solve.
Hi Macey! So for this question, it would be helpful to draw a diagram like this: Make one side x and one side 2x (since one side is twice the size of the other) ____________2x_____________ | |
| | x
|___________________________|
Then, you know the area is 18m^2, so you can make an equation. The area of a rectangle is its length multiplied by its height, so 2x times x = 18 That gives you 2x^2 = 18 Then divide both sides by 2: x^2 = 9
And square root both sides so x = 3 Now you know one side of the rectangle is 3m and the other will be 2 x 3 = 6m
I hope this helps!