Problem

A rectangular plot of farmland will be bounded on one side by a river and on the other three sides by a single-strand electric fence. With 700 m of wire at your disposal, what is the largest area you can enclose, and what are its dimensions?

Answer

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Answer

Final Answer: The maximum area that can be enclosed is 61250 square meters, with dimensions 175 meters by 350 meters.

Steps

Step 1 :The problem is asking for the maximum area that can be enclosed with a given amount of fencing. This is a problem of optimization, which can be solved using calculus.

Step 2 :The area of a rectangle is given by the formula A=l×w, where l is the length and w is the width. In this case, the length is the side along the river and the width is the side enclosed by the fence.

Step 3 :Since the fence encloses three sides of the rectangle, the total length of the fence is 2w+l=700. We can solve this equation for l to get l=7002w.

Step 4 :Substituting this into the area formula gives A=w(7002w)=700w2w2.

Step 5 :To find the maximum area, we need to find the maximum of this function. This occurs where the derivative is zero, so we need to solve the equation A=7004w=0 for w.

Step 6 :Solving the equation gives w=175 and l=350.

Step 7 :Substituting these values into the area formula gives A=175×350=61250.

Step 8 :Final Answer: The maximum area that can be enclosed is 61250 square meters, with dimensions 175 meters by 350 meters.

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