If x is one side, let y be the other. Then
4x+4y = 40
x+y = 10
y = 10-x
The total area is thus
a = x^2+y^2 = x^2 + (10-x)^2
= 2x^2-20x+100
a has a minimum at x = 20/4 = 5
As expected, minimum area occurs when the two squares are in fact equal.
Alice cuts a ribbon of length 40cm into two pieces to form two squares as shown in th figure (there was no figure, but from my assumption the two squares are probably different ). Let xcm be the length of a side of one of the two squares
a)express the total area of the two squares in terms of x
b) Find the minimum total ar a of the two squares and the corresponding value of x
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