Emma is playing miniature golf. Her ball is 2 feet to the left of the right-hand wall. The hole is 4 feet to the left of the wal
l. The distance along the wall between her ball and the hole is 18 feet. There is an obstacle between her ball and the hole, so Emma must hit her ball off the right-hand wall to reflect it towards the hole. How far down the wall should she aim?
1 answer:
Answer:
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- <u>She should aim 6 feet down the wall</u>
Explanation:
The diagram attached sketches the situtation.
Since the angle with which the ball hits the wall is the same with which it bounces, angle β is the same for the two shown triangles.
Then, since both are right triangles, then all the angles are congruent and the triangles are similar. Hence, you can equal the ratios of the sides, to make an equation:
- x/4 = y/2 ⇒ x = 2y
You have other equation:
- x+ y = 18
Substitute
- 2y + y = 18
- 3y = 18
- y = 18/3
- y = 6 ← this is the distance down the wall where the ball should hit
- x = 2(6) = 12
Then, she should aim 6 feet down the wall.
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Answer:
<em>Any width less than 3 feet</em>
Step-by-step explanation:
<u>Inequalities</u>
The garden plot will have an area of less than 18 square feet. If L is the length of the garden plot and W is the width, the area is calculated by:
A = L.W
The first condition can be written as follows:
LW < 18
The length should be 3 feet longer than the width, thus:
L = W + 3
Substituting in the inequality:
(W + 3)W < 18
Operating and rearranging:
Factoring:
(W-3)(W+6)<0
Since W must be positive, the only restriction comes from:
W - 3 < 0
Or, equivalently:
W < 3
Since:
L = W + 3
W = L - 3
This means:
L - 3 < 3
L < 6
The width should be less than 3 feet and therefore the length will be less than 6 feet.
If the measures are whole numbers, the possible dimensions of the garden plot are:
W = 1 ft, L = 4 ft
W = 2 ft, L = 5 ft
Another solution would be (for non-integer numbers):
W = 2.5 ft, L = 5.5 ft
There are infinitely many possible combinations for W and L as real numbers.