Question

A pasture has four straight sides. Three sides are 3/8 miles long. It took 1 3/8 miles of fencing to enclose the pasture. What is the length of the fourth side? Using a verbal model write an equation for this situation, where x is the length of the fourth side. Solve the equation and interpret the solution.

Answer 1

I am not sure that I understand.

If a figure has 4 straight sides and 3 of them are the <I>same length</I>, to connect the two known parallel sides, the remaining side must also be the same length as the third side (its parallel), resulting in a square. However, that would give you 4 * 3/8 = 12/8 = 1 1/2

With a formula, it would be:

X = 1 3/8 - 3(3/8)

X = 11/8 - 9/8

X = 2/8 = 1/4

Something is wrong somewhere. If your data is accurate, ask your teacher what is happening.

I hope this helps. Thanks for asking.