Area formula problem

by britney
(florida)

A room is 15 ft long and y feet wide. How many square yards are in the floor area?



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Oct 24, 2010
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starstarstarstarstar 		Area Formula Problem
by: Karin

There are two formulas that you must know in order to complete this problem.

1. The formula for finding area of a rectangle is A = l x w. Area = length times width.

2. The problem gives you dimensions in feet, but asks for the answer to be in yards.

You must know that 3 feet = 1 yard. So, first we must convert feet to yards. Since 3 feet = 1 yard, if you divide the number of feet by 3, you will know how many yards.

The length is 15 feet. 15 /3 = 5 yards. Therefore, the length is 5 yards long.

The width is equal to y feet. We must still convert this to yards. Therefore, y/3 = the width. You can also write this as 1/3y.

Now we have:
length = 5yds
width = 1/3y yds.

A = l x w
A = 5 x 1/3y
A = 5/3y


A = 5/3y is the area of the room.

Remember to first convert the dimensions to yards and then apply the area formula.

I hope this helps,
Karin

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