SOLUTION: This is for my 5th grader and I have no clue. I do not want to confuse him. The question is: The perimeter of a rectangle is 18 inches. If the length and width of the rectangle

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Question 711844: This is for my 5th grader and I have no clue. I do not want to confuse him.
The question is: The perimeter of a rectangle is 18 inches. If the length and width of the rectangle are whole numbers, determine 4 possible values of the area of the rectangle. Draw and label rectangles to justify your answers.
Thank You-
Fahy Atkinson
Answer by josmiceli(19441) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Let +W+ = the width
Let +L+ = the length
+2W+%2B+2L+=+18+
+W+%2B+L+=+9+
+L+=+9+-+W+
The area is expressed as
+A+=+W%2AL+
+A+=+W%2A%28+9+-+W+%29+
If I can only use whole numbers, then I am limited to:
+W+=+1+, +L+=+8+
+W+=+2+, +L+=+7+
+W+=+3+, +L+=+6+
+W+=+4+, +L+=+5+
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That's as far as I can go, because if I say +W+=+5+,
then +9+-+W+=+4+, and I already have that combination
Notice that the perimeter, +2W+%2B+2L+=+18+
in all 4 cases, but area +A+=+W%2AL+ is different in each case.