SOLUTION: Okay so I'm completely stuck on this problem--- A zookeeper has 500ft of fencing and want to build a rectangular fence, give a quadratic equation that relates the area to the le

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Question 333453: Okay so I'm completely stuck on this problem---
A zookeeper has 500ft of fencing and want to build a rectangular fence, give a quadratic equation that relates the area to the length.
So, my question is: How do you do this problem? (Or just the first couple of steps).
Answer by josmiceli(19441) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Let the length of the rectangle = a
Let the width of the rectangle = b
The circumference, C+=+2a+%2B+2b
given:
C+=+500 ft
500+=+2a+%2B+2b
2b+=+500+-+2a
b+=+250+-+a
A+=+a%2Ab
A+=+a%2A%28250+-+a%29
A+=+-a%5E2+%2B+250a
This is the quadratic equation- you could pick your
own letters instead of a and b