document.write( "Question 1102502: A square piece of tin is made into an open box by cutting a 6 cm square from each corner. The volume of the box is 1536 cm^2. What was the area, in cm^2, of the original piece of tin? \n" ); document.write( "

Algebra.Com's Answer #717220 by greenestamps(13209) $\"\"$ $\"About$

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\n" ); document.write( "The approach used by tutor josgarithmetic is in fact valid; she just didn't use it correctly.

\n" ); document.write( "The volume of the box, the way she set up the problem, should have been
\n" ); document.write( " $\"6%28x-12%29%5E2\"$

\n" ); document.write( "She mistakenly wrote it as
\n" ); document.write( " $\"x%28x-12%29%5E2\"$

\n" ); document.write( "Finishing the problem using this approach....

\n" ); document.write( " $\"6%28x-12%29%5E2+=+1536\"$
\n" ); document.write( " $\"x-12%29%5E2+=+256\"$
\n" ); document.write( " $\"x-12+=+16\"$ [we don't need to consider negative values, since we are talking about measurements of a piece of tin]
\n" ); document.write( " $\"x+=+28\"$

\n" ); document.write( "So the length of a side of the piece of tin is 28cm; the area is 28^2=784 cm^2. \n" ); document.write( "

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