Monday, November 16, 2009

A farmer has 220 metres of fencing for an area of 2500m. What are the dimensions of the field? ?

How would you work this out? I know how to do it by trial and improvement but what is the method involving quadratics?|||Hi,





Assuming the field is rectangular, let x = its width. Then the length is 110 - x for the length.





The area is found by:





A = L x W


2500 = (110 - x)x


2500 = 110x - x虏


x虏 - 110x + 2500 = 0


................________________


-(-110) 卤 鈭?-110)虏 - 4(1)(2500)


--------------------------------------... = x


..................2(1)





............_____


110 卤 鈭?100


--------------------- = x


........2





x = 32.09 metres


110 - x = 77.91 metres





The field is 77.91 metres x 32,09 metres. %26lt;==ANSWER





I hope that helps!! :-)|||You are presuming a rectangle for the field?





I have a field which has 6 sides. One %26#039;corner%26#039; has an interior angle of about 270 degrees. None of the corners are of 90 degrees. The fences enclose three acres (say, 10,000 sq meters). I challenge anyone to calculate the length of fence that I need to maintain!|||This kind of problem is a multi-step process.





Step 1


Call the perimeter of the area P.





Assuming that the area is a rectangle, the formula for the perimeter is





P = 2L + 2W.





Now, they give us P = 220. Put that into the equation.





220 = 2L + 2W





Solve for W.


Subtract 2L from both sides.





220 - 2L = 2L + 2W - 2L





220 - 2L = 2W





Divide by 2.





(220 - 2L)/2 = 2W/2





(220 - 2L)/2 = W


****************************


Step 2


The formula for the area of a rectangle is





A = LW.





We know what W looks like from Step 1. Put that expression into the equation for the area.





A = L (220 - 2L)/2





Distribute the L across the parentheses.





A = (220L - 2L^2)/2





They told us that the area is 2500. Put that value into the equation.(I%26#039;m ignoring all of the meter stuff right now. We%26#039;ll put that in at the end.)





2500 = (220L - 2L^2)/2





Multiply both sides by 2.





2(2500) = 2 [ (220L - 2L^2)/2 ]





5000 = 220L - 2L^2





Add 2L^2 to both sides.





5000 + 2L^2 = 220L - 2L^2 + 2L^2





5000 + 2L^2 = 220L





Subtract 220L from both sides.





5000 + 2L^2 - 220L = 220L - 220L





5000 + 2L^2 - 220L = 0





Rewrite for ease of solving a quadratic.





2L^2 - 220L + 5000 = 0





This next series of steps are optional, but will make the problem simpler to solve.


Factor 2 out of the terms on the left hand side.





2 (L^2 - 110L + 2500) = 0





Divide both sides by 2.





[2 (L^2 - 110L + 2500)] / 2 = 0 / 2





L^2 - 110L + 2500 = 0


*************************************


Step 3


Use the Quadratic Formula to solve for L.





L = [ -B +- sq_rt (B^2 - 4AC) ] / 2A





Here, A = 1, B = -110, C = 2500 and +- means %26quot;plus or minus.%26quot; So...





L = [ -(-110) +- sq_rt ( (-110)^2 - 4(1)(2500) ] / 2(1)





L = [ 110 +- sq_rt ( 12100 - 10000 ] / 2





L = [ 110 +- sq_rt ( 12100 - 10000 ] / 2





L = [ 110 +- sq_rt ( 2100 ) ] / 2





Now, sq_rt ( 2100 ) = sq_rt [ (21)(100 ) ]


= 10 sq_rt (21).





Now we have...





L = [ 110 +- 10 sq_rt (21) ] / 2





Factor out a 2 from the terms in the numerator. It will cancel out the 2 in the denominator.





L = 2 [ 55 +- 5 sq_rt (21) ] / 2





L = 55 +- 5 sq_rt (21)





We have 2 possibilities.


L = 55 + 5 sq_rt (21)


or


L = 55 - 5 sq_rt (21)





Note: 5 sq_rt (21) = 5(4.58) = 22.9, approximately.





We now have...


L = 55 + 22.9 = 77.9


or


L = 55 - 22.9 = 32.1.


***********************************


Step 4


If L = 55 + 22.9 = 77.9,


then


A = LW means that 2500 = 77.9 W.





Divide by 77.9 on both sides.





2500/77.9 = 77.9 W / 77.9





32.09 = W.





If L = 55 - 22.9 = 32.1,





then


A = LW means that 2500 = 32.1 W.





Divide both sides by 32.1.





2500/32.1 = 32.1 W / 32.1





77.88 = W.





Note that the pairs of values are very close. (77.88 is almost 77.9 and


32.09 is almost 32.1.)





L = 77.9 W = 32.09





L = 32.1 W = 77.88.





Since length is understood to be larger than width,





I%26#039;m not sure whether your teacher wants to see decimal approximations or not, but I%26#039;d take the following as the answer:





L = 77.9 W = 32.09

















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