Question

A farmer is building a rectangular garden bed next to a river and has 8 metres worth of fence line to fence it off.

I understand that the equation of this would be:
A = w(8 - 2w)

However, I am unsure what to do next

Answers

Steve
depends on what the question is, no?
Stacy
oh, I'm sorry!
The question is asking to find the dimensions needed for the maximum area
Steve
A = 8w - 2w^2

As you recall, the vertex of a parabola (in this case, the maximum area) is achieved at x = -b/2a

In this case, that's x = -8/-4 = 2

Or, you can note that the roots of A=0 are 0 and 4. The vertex is midway between the roots, at x=2.

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