Homework help for my math class

@gabbymg (127)
United States
November 2, 2011 11:06am CST
Joshua has decided to convert part of his back yard into a garden. He knows from his neighbor's experience that he needs to fence in the garden to keep the animals out. At the hardware store, he buys 200 feet of chicken wire. After he gets home and unrolls the wire, he finds to his surprise that there are many different sized gardens that he can make using 200 feet of fencing. What are the dimensions of his garden using only whole number values? What if he bought n feet of wire? Any help would be greatly appreciated! I just need a starting point for this really because I'm not entirely sure where to go with it.
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3 responses
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
3 Nov 11
There isn't enough information here to give a sensible answer. You need to use the two equations for a rectangular area (assuming it's rectangular): Circumference = 2*(width + length) Area = width * length If you are limited to integer values for width and length, then the maximum area which you can enclose with 200 feet of wire is a square of 50 feet per side and anything else will have sides which are both integer factors of 100: 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 20, 25, and 50. If you are not limited to rectangular areas, then the largest area you can enclose with a specific length of wire is a circle such that: Circumference = 2 * p * radius and the Area = (p * radius)^2 Everything else comes from knowing how to manipulate equations and how to substitute known values to arrive at the value of an unknown so that you can replace that unknown with a value in a related equation.
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@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
3 Nov 11
"p" should have printed as the Greek letter "pi"!
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• Philippines
3 Nov 11
You ask your teacher. I hate mathematics and I am sorry I cannot help you in this matter. You can find some samples in the internet to help you out with your problem.
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@marie2052 (3691)
• United States
3 Nov 11
I homeschooled my son for the last three years of high school. When I had problems with my teaching math, I would either call his counselor for math to assist me with teaching or go into one of the chat cafes for different colleges. There was always someone that assisted in whatever I needed. Good Luck!