Question

Four squares Are cut from the corners from a 20 cm by 24 cm rectangular sheet of tin. The sides are then bent up to make a pan. What is the length of each side of the squares is the area of the bottom of the pan is said to be 192 cm squared

Answer 1

Squares are cut from the corner, so we are left with only one variable.

The area of a rectangle, the bottom of the pan, is base*height.

Let's call the sides of the removed squares "x"

so 192 = (20-x)(24-x)          foil to expand the binomials

192 = 480 - 44x - x squared         Take 192 away from both sides

0 = 288 - 44x - x squared            

0 = (36 - x)(8-x)

x = 36 and x = 8

Because 36 > 24 and 36 > 20, in this case, the squares cannot be

36cm x 36cm and therefore must be 8cm x 8cm.

Check:

(20-8)(24-8) = 192