I am the fencing around the rectangular lion exhibit at a zoo . The lions have 1,000 square meters to roam inside a rectangular area that is 15 meters longer than it is wide. If I were to unwind and make myself straight , how long would I be?
Answer: length of the fence = 40 meters width of the fence = 15 meters
Explanation: Assume that the width of the fence is w. We are given that the length of the fence is 15 meters longer than the width. This means that: length = w + 15
Now, we know that the area of the rectangle is calculated as follows: area = length * width
We are given that the area is 1000 m²
Substitute in the equation and solve for w as follows: area = length * width 1000 = (w+15)(w) 1000 = w² + 15w w² + 15w - 1000 = 0 (w-25)(w+40) = 0
This means that: either w-25=0 .......> w = 25 meters ..........> accepted solution or w+40=0 ............> w = -40 m ........> rejected as width cannot be negative
Based on the above: width of fence = 25 meters length of fence = w + 15 = 25 + 15 = 40 meters
