Your dad is designing a new rectangular harder for your backyard. He has 26 ft of fencing to go around the garden. He wants the length of the garden to be 3 1/2 feet longer than the width. How long should he make the harden
Let the width of the garden be x.
Then, the length of the garden would be x + 3 1/2.
The perimeter of the garden is the sum of all the sides, which is equal to the amount of fencing available:
2(width) + 2(length) = 26
2x + 2(x + 3 1/2) = 26
2x + 2x + 7 = 26
4x + 7 = 26
4x = 19
x = 4.75
Therefore, the width of the garden should be 4.75 ft and the length should be 4.75 + 3 1/2 = 8.25 ft.