Mia is building a three-sided shelter for her action figures. The shelter will resemble a rectangle with one of the long sides removed. She has boards that measure 36 inches, 39 inches, and 42 inches in length; all the boards are the same width. Mia will need to convert some of these measurements into other imperial units to build the shelter the way she wants. Answer the following questions. Show your work. Record your answers below.
To build the three-sided shelter with a rectangle shape, Mia will need two long sides and one short side. Let's determine which boards can be used for each side.
1. The boards measure 36, 39, and 42 inches in length.
To form the long sides of the rectangle, we need two boards of the same length.
The longest possible length for the long sides is 42 inches. Therefore, Mia can use the 42-inch board for one long side.
For the second long side, Mia will need to cut the board. Let's calculate the length of the second long side by subtracting the width of the removed side from the total length of the board.
Width of the removed side = 42 inches - length of the remaining board.
Since Mia wants to use all three boards to build the shelter, she will use the 39-inch board for the second long side.
2. For the short side, Mia will need to cut one of the boards to the desired length.
To determine the length of the short side, we subtract the total length of the long sides from the length of the remaining board.
Length of the short side = length of the remaining board - total length of the long sides.
Length of the short side = 36 inches - (42 inches + 39 inches).
Therefore, Mia can use the 36-inch board for the short side.
Summary:
- Mia will use the 42-inch board for one long side.
- Mia will need to cut the 39-inch board to the desired length for the second long side.
- Mia will use the 36-inch board for the short side.