Problema Solution
Write an equation to represent the situation. Then solve.
You purchase three bags of fertilizer for your vegetable garden. Each bag contains fifty cubic feet of fertilizer. If the fertilizer is spread a single foot thick and the length of the garden is 5 more than the width, what are the dimensions of the garden?
Answer provided by our tutors
let
l = the length of the garden, l>0
w = the width of the garden, w>0
h = 1 ft the thickness of the fertilizer
V = 3*50 = 150 ft^3 the total volume of fertilizer (3 bags, 50 ft^3 each)
the volume of the fertilizer spread in the garden is l*w*h = V
l*w*1 = 150
lw = 150
the length of the garden is 5 more than the width
l = 5 + w
plug into lw = 150
(5 + w)w = 150
by solving we find
w = 10ft
click here to see the step by step solution of the equation
l = 5 + 10
l = 15 ft
the dimensions of the garden are: the length is 15 ft and the width is 10 ft.