SOLUTION: A family is finishing a room in their basement. The room is 20 feet long and 14 feet wide. There is a 2'8" - wide door opening in one wall. How many linear feet of wall base are n

Question 1186815: A family is finishing a room in their basement. The room is 20 feet long and 14 feet wide. There is a 2'8" - wide door opening in one wall. How many linear feet of wall base are needed? Note that no wall base is needed along the open door opening.
Answer by math_tutor2020(3817) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!

For now, let's say there isn't a door. If so, then the amount of wall base needed is exactly the perimeter of the rectangle with L = 20 as the length and W = 14 as the width.

Apply the perimeter of a rectangle formula with those values
P = 2*(L+W)
P = 2*(20+14)
P = 2*(34)
P = 68

The perimeter of the rectangle is 68 feet. If we didn't have a door, then this would be the answer. This is assuming you don't have any waste/errors.

However, we do have to account for the door.

So we'll subtract off the 2'8" like so
68' - 2'8"
68 ft - (2 ft, 8 in)
68 ft - (2 ft + 8 in)
68 ft - 2 ft - 8 in
66 ft - 8 in
65 ft + 1 ft - 8 in
65 ft + 12 in - 8 in
65 ft + 4 in
65 ft, 4 in
65' 4"

Note how I broke up the 66 ft into 65 ft + 1 ft. Afterward, that 1 ft is turned into 12 inches. This allows us to apply the subtraction later on (this is an example of "borrowing" in subtraction).

After accounting for the door, we'll need exactly 65'4" of wall base assuming that we don't make any mistakes. Though for realistic purposes, it's better to overshoot your goal to allow better flexibility.

Answer: 65' 4"

RELATED QUESTIONS
A room is 20 feet long, 12 feet wide, and 8 feet high. What is the area of the... (answered by josgarithmetic)

A room is 15 3/4 feet wide and 8 feet long. What is the area of the... (answered by TimothyLamb)

The perimeter of a rectangular hotel room is 72 feet. The room is 14 feet wide. How long... (answered by JulietG)

What is the volume of a room that is 12 feet long, 16 feet wide, and 8 feet... (answered by Alan3354)

Please help me solve these two questions!!! 1. A rectangular room is 20 feet long and... (answered by rfer)

what is the volume of a room that measures 8 feet high, 8 feet wide, and 12 feet... (answered by the_tutor2011,MathLover1)

a builder is completing the floor in a living room. the room is rectangular shaped with... (answered by rfer)

What is the weight of air in a room 16.5 feet long, 7.5 feet wide, and 8 feet high, if 10 (answered by ikleyn)

2. What is the area in square feet of a room that is (4x - 3) feet wide and (2x - 7) feet (answered by jim_thompson5910)