Bernie put in a garden in her back yard. The garden has a perimeter of 213 feet. She wants to know the total surface area of the garden and all she knows is the perimeter and that the width is 20% or (1/5) of the length. (Remember 20% and the fraction 1/5 is the same decimal value) Use a system of equations for finding the length and width so you can calculate the area.
if the length is x, the width is x/5
The area is x(x/5) = x^2/5
p = 2(x+x/5) = 12x/5 = 213
x = 1065/12 = 88.75
so, the area is 88.75^2 / 5 = 1575.3125
check:
length = 88.75
width = 17.75
p = 2(88.75+17.75) = 2(106.5) = 213