Question

You are designing a rectangular pet pen for your new baby puppy. You have 35 feet of fence barrier. You decide that you would like the length to be 6.5 feet longer than the width. What are the dimensions of the pen?

Answer 1

Hello from MrBillDoesMath!

Answer:

l = 12 feet,  w = 5.5

Discussion:

Let w be the width of the pen and "l" the length. From the problem statement

l = w + 6.5  and the perimeter, P, of the fence -= 35.

Now the perimeter of the rectangle is given by the formula

P = 2l + 2w.  

In our case, P = 35 and l = w + 6.5 so the equation becomes:

35 = 2(w+6.5) + 2w =>

35 = 2w + 13 + 2w =>

35 = 4w + 13  =>         (subtract 13 from both sides)

35-13 = 4w  =>

22 = 4w =>

w = 22/4 = 5.5 feet

As, l = w + 6.5, l =  5.5  + 6.5 = 12 feet

Thank you,

MrB