Question

If a rectangle measures 8 feet on the short side and 9.8 feet on the long side.What is the area of the rectangle in square feet?

Answer 1

`A=78.4` `"ft"^2`

Explanation:

Multiply the length and width of the rectangle to find its area:

`A=9.8*8`

`A=78.4` `"ft"^2`

Remember your units!

Answer 2

If the decimal is giving you a problem consider this approach.

`78.4 color(white)(.)ft^2`

Explanation:

We have: `8" feet"xx9.8" feet"`

But 9.8 is the same as `98xx1/10`

So re-write as:

`8xx98xx1/10 " ft"^2`

`color(white)("d")color(white)(.)9color(white)(..)8`
`ul(color(white)("d")color(white)(9999)8larr" Multiply")`
`ul(7color(white)(.)8color(white)(..)4)`
`color(white)("dd")6`

Now we multiply by `1/10` to give:

`784 color(white)(.)ft^2xx1/10= 78.4 color(white)(.)ft^2`