Peter is building a fenced in area for his dog. He has 250 feet (ft.) of fencing to create an area for his dog. He is building it next to his house so he will only need fencing for 3 sides of the rectangular area. The diagram shows the width, d, of the area Peter is building for his dog.

The function A(d)=d(250−2d) represents the area that will be fenced in for Peter's dog, in square feet.

Complete the statements.

(2 points)
A reasonable scale for the horizontal axis of the function A(d)=d(250−2d) is
, A reasonable scale for the vertical axis of the function A(d)=d(250−2d) is

1 answer

To determine a reasonable scale for the horizontal and vertical axes of the function \( A(d) = d(250 - 2d) \), we need to analyze the possible values for \( d \) (the width) and the corresponding values for \( A(d) \) (the area).

  1. Horizontal Axis (d):

    • The variable \( d \) represents the width of the rectangular area and must meet the condition where the total fencing used does not exceed 250 ft. Since the length uses up \( 250 - 2d \) feet of fencing and \( d \) must be positive, \( d \) must be at a minimum of 0 and at a maximum such that \( 2d < 250 \).
    • Therefore, \( d \) can range from 0 to 125 ft.
    • A reasonable scale for the horizontal axis could be increments of 10 ft, since it allows for clear labeling and plotting. Thus, ranges from 0 to 130 ft would be suitable for visualization.
  2. Vertical Axis (A(d)):

    • The function \( A(d) = d(250 - 2d) \) is a quadratic equation, which opens downwards, representing a parabolic shape. To find the maximum area, we can derive the expression:
    • The area \( A \) will be maximized when \( d \) is at its vertex. The vertex of a parabola in the form \( A(d) = -2d^2 + 250d \) occurs at \( d = -\frac{b}{2a} = -\frac{250}{2 \times -2} = 62.5 \) ft.
    • Substituting \( d = 62.5 \) into \( A(d) \): \[ A(62.5) = 62.5(250 - 2 \cdot 62.5) = 62.5(250 - 125) = 62.5 \cdot 125 = 7812.5 \text{ ft}^2. \]
    • Thus, the range of areas will go from \( 0 \) to \( 7812.5 \) square feet. A reasonable scale for the vertical axis would be in increments of 500 square feet. This results in a vertical scale from 0 to 8000 ft² for clarity.

Therefore, the complete statements are:

  • A reasonable scale for the horizontal axis of the function \( A(d) = d(250 - 2d) \) is 0 to 130 feet, in increments of 10 feet.
  • A reasonable scale for the vertical axis of the function \( A(d) = d(250 - 2d) \) is 0 to 8000 square feet, in increments of 500 square feet.