Evan is making a table that will be created in the shape of the figure below. The table top is a triangle attached to a rectangl
e. To purchase the right amount of paint, he needs to know the area of the table top. He can only spend $10 on paint, which is enough to cover 150 ft2 of surface area. What is the maximum length of the base of the rectangle he can build?
Area of a triangle: A (triangle )= 4 · 6 / 2 = 12 ft² 150 - 12 = 138 ft² ( the maximum area of the rectangle ) L = ? W = 6 ft A ( rectangle ) = L · W L · 6 = 138 L = 138 : 6 = 23 ft. Answer: the maximum length of the base of the rectangle he can build is 23 ft.
You can multiply by 12 because to get rid of the fractions all terms should be divided by the LCM (ie the smallest multiple that is exactly divisible by 2, 4 and 3)
Multiples of 3 = 3, 6, 9, 12
Multiples of 4 = 4, 8, 12, 16
Multiples of 2 = 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12
Therefore the fractions should be multiplied by 12