What is the area of the border around Lavita's rectangular garden?
Understand the Problem
The question asks us to find the area of a 3-foot border around a rectangular garden. We need to calculate the area of the larger rectangle (garden + border) and subtract the area of the garden to find the area of the border alone.
Answer
The area of the border is $336$ square feet.
Answer for screen readers
The area of the border is $336$ square feet.
Steps to Solve
- Find the dimensions of the garden plus the border
Since the border is 3 feet wide on all sides, we need to add twice the border width to each dimension of the garden. Length of garden + border: $30 + 2(3) = 30 + 6 = 36$ ft Width of garden + border: $20 + 2(3) = 20 + 6 = 26$ ft
- Calculate the area of the garden plus the border
Area = length * width Area of garden + border = $36 \times 26 = 936$ square feet
- Calculate the area of the garden
Area = length * width Area of garden = $30 \times 20 = 600$ square feet
- Calculate the area of the border
Area of border = Area of (garden + border) - Area of garden Area of border = $936 - 600 = 336$ square feet
The area of the border is $336$ square feet.
More Information
A landscape architect often needs to calculate the amount of materials needed for borders, pathways, or other features around gardens or buildings. This type of problem is also quite relevant in construction.
Tips
A common mistake is to only add the border width to one side of the garden instead of both sides. Remember to add twice the border width to both the length and the width of the garden to get the correct dimensions of the garden plus the border. Another common mistake is to forget to subtract the area of the garden from the area of the garden plus border.
AI-generated content may contain errors. Please verify critical information
