Problema Solution
An open box is made from a rectangular piece of cardboard measuring 12 inches by 16 inches by cutting identical squares from the corners and turning up the sides. What are the lengths of the sides of the removed squares if the area of the bottom of the open box is 60 square inches?
Answer provided by our tutors
Let x = length of the sides of the removed squares.
Then the dimensions of the box will be: (12-2x) by (160-2x) by x.
This means that 12 > 2x that is 6 > x.
The area of the bottom is given as 60 ft^2, therefore:
(12-2x)*(16-2x) = 60
........
click here to see the equation solved for x
........
x = 3 in
We need to ignore the solution 11 because 11 > 6.
The length of the sides of the removed squares is 3 inches.