15. A farmer wishes to enclose a rectangular region. He has 500 feet of fencing and plans to use his barn as one side of the enclosure. Let x represent the length of one of parallel sides of the fencing. a) Express the length of the remaining side in terms of x. b) Determine a function A that represents the area of the region in terms of x. 500x c) What is the value of x that will give a maximum area and what will this area be?
Unitary Method
The word “unitary” comes from the word “unit”, which means a single and complete entity. In this method, we find the value of a unit product from the given number of products, and then we solve for the other number of products.
Speed, Time, and Distance
Imagine you and 3 of your friends are planning to go to the playground at 6 in the evening. Your house is one mile away from the playground and one of your friends named Jim must start at 5 pm to reach the playground by walk. The other two friends are 3 miles away.
Profit and Loss
The amount earned or lost on the sale of one or more items is referred to as the profit or loss on that item.
Units and Measurements
Measurements and comparisons are the foundation of science and engineering. We, therefore, need rules that tell us how things are measured and compared. For these measurements and comparisons, we perform certain experiments, and we will need the experiments to set up the devices.
![**Problem 15: Optimal Fencing for a Rectangular Enclosure**
A farmer wishes to enclose a rectangular region using 500 feet of fencing. One side of this region will be alongside a barn, which does not require any fencing. Let \( x \) represent the length of one of the parallel sides perpendicular to the barn.
**Tasks:**
a) **Express the length of the remaining side in terms of \( x \).**
b) **Determine a function \( A \) that represents the area of the region in terms of \( x \).**
c) **Calculate the value of \( x \) that maximizes the area, and find the maximum area.**
**Diagram:**
- The illustration accompanying the problem shows a rectangular area with the barn wall labeled as one side.
- The two sides perpendicular to the barn are labeled \( x \).
- The side opposite the barn, which needs fencing, is labeled. Since the total amount of fencing used is 500 feet and two sides are \( x \), the expression for the remaining side’s length can be deduced.
**Solution Outline:**
- **a)** The length of the opposite side to the barn can be expressed as \( 500 - 2x \).
- **b)** The area \( A \) is given by the formula for the area of a rectangle: \( A = x \times (500 - 2x) \).
- **c)** To find the maximum area, derive the area function \( A(x) \), set the derivative to zero, and solve for \( x \). Calculate the maximum area using this optimal \( x \).](/v2/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcontent.bartleby.com%2Fqna-images%2Fquestion%2F9dbaf28b-531f-4842-8caf-eb3ad75d7a35%2Fe3c05379-2b68-42b7-854b-f0ed7b0a6873%2Fofqom0f_processed.jpeg&w=3840&q=75)
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