Question

Members of a landscaping company built a retaining wall. The length is 2 3/4 feet and the width is 8 1/2 feet. They used brick to mske the 2/3 of the wall. What is the heigth of the brick potion of the wall? Write an equation to model your work

Answer 1

Let's let "h" represent the height of the brick portion of the wall.

To find the height, we need to determine what portion of the wall the bricks make up. We are told that the bricks make up 2/3 of the wall.

The total height of the wall is "h" plus the remaining portion, which is 1 - 2/3 = 1/3 of the wall.

So, the equation to model this situation is:
h + (1/3)h = 2 3/4

Now we need to convert the mixed number 2 3/4 to an improper fraction.

2 3/4 = (2 * 4 + 3) / 4 = 11/4

Substituting this back into the equation, we have:
h + (1/3)h = 11/4

Multiplying both sides of the equation by 3 to eliminate the fraction:
3h + h = (11/4) * 3
4h = 33/4

Dividing both sides by 4 to isolate "h":
h = (33/4) / 4 = 33/16 = 2 1/16

Therefore, the height of the brick portion of the wall is 2 1/16 feet.