Asked by a

Q9 A square-shaped courtyard with 100-foot sides is reduced by x
feet on two opposite sides and extended by x
feet on the other two sides.

a. Write a polynomial that represents the new area of the courtyard.

b. Does the area of the courtyard increase, decrease, or stay the same?

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
a. Let the two sides moved inward each by x reduce the width by 2x, and the two sides moved outward each by x increase the height by 2x. The new area is
A(x) = (100 − 2x)(100 + 2x) = 10000 − 4x^2.

b. The area decreases for any nonzero x (A(x) = 10000 − 4x^2 < 10000 when x ≠ 0). (Physically x must satisfy 0 ≤ x < 50 so side lengths remain positive.)