A farmer is planning how to use the land in a rectangular field. The rectangle shown represents the field.

a rectangle with the bottom labeled 2.7 times 10 cubed feet and the right side labeled 3.5 times 10 cubed feet



Part A: What is the area of the field?

Write your final answer in scientific notation and show or explain your mathematical process.

Part B: Half of the field is used to grow corn. What is the area of that section?

Write your final answer in scientific notation and show or explain your mathematical process.

1 answer

To solve the problem, we'll first calculate the area of the rectangular field and then find the area used for growing corn.

Part A: Area of the Field

The area \( A \) of a rectangle is given by the formula:

\[ A = \text{length} \times \text{width} \]

From the problem statement, we have:

  • Length = \( 2.7 \times 10^3 \) feet
  • Width = \( 3.5 \times 10^3 \) feet

Now, we can calculate the area:

\[ A = (2.7 \times 10^3) \times (3.5 \times 10^3) \]

Using the property of multiplying numbers in scientific notation, we can multiply the coefficients (the numbers) and then add the exponents of 10.

  1. Multiply the coefficients: \[ 2.7 \times 3.5 = 9.45 \]

  2. Add the exponents of 10: \[ 10^3 \times 10^3 = 10^{3+3} = 10^6 \]

Combining these results, we have:

\[ A = 9.45 \times 10^6 \]

Since we need to express our answer in scientific notation, we check if the coefficient (9.45) is in the correct range (between 1 and 10). It is.

Thus, the area of the field is: \[ \boxed{9.45 \times 10^6} \text{ square feet} \]

Part B: Area Used to Grow Corn

If half of the field is used to grow corn, we take half of the total area calculated in Part A:

\[ \text{Area for Corn} = \frac{A}{2} = \frac{9.45 \times 10^6}{2} \]

Calculating this:

  1. Divide the coefficient by 2: \[ \frac{9.45}{2} = 4.725 \]

  2. The exponent remains the same: \[ 10^6 \]

Now we express the area used for corn in scientific notation. Since \( 4.725 \) is also within the range (1 to 10), we can express it as:

\[ \text{Area for Corn} = 4.725 \times 10^6 \]

Thus, the area used to grow corn is: \[ \boxed{4.725 \times 10^6} \text{ square feet} \]