a horticulturalist is building a fence around a rectangular garden using the side of a building for one side of the enclosure. she has 81 feet of fencing. what should the dimensions of the enclosre be so that she can maxmize the gardens area?
The garden area is maximum when the enclosure is a square. If a is the length of the side of the square then the length of the building is also a. The perimeter length is 4a made up of 81+a feet, so 81+a=4a and 3a=81 making a=27 feet.
