# fence

#### eddy2017

##### Full Member
Hi, dear professors:
I should be able to do this here problem by now quite easily, I find myself struggling with the solution, though.

If fencing is $4.00 per yard, how much will it cost a farmer to fence a rectangular field with dimension 300 ft by 600 ft. Given fencing is$.00 per yard
width 300 ft
length 600 ft
cost of fencing=?

This is definitely about founding the area of the rectangular field.
Area of a rectangular= l*w
A= 600 ft * 300 ft
A=180,000 ft^2 (the area of the rectangular field)
Now, it says that the cost of 1 yard =4.00 dollars
so, there are three feet to a yard
so, 3 ft of fencing costs =4 dollars
the area has 180,000 ft
I am stuck here, any hint as to how to proceed to find the cost?

eddy

#### lev888

##### Senior Member
Hi, dear professors:
Don't exclude mere mortals

This is definitely about founding the area of the rectangular field.
I think this is a great example of a problem where a drawing would help.

#### eddy2017

##### Full Member
Don't exclude mere mortals

I think this is a great example of a problem where a drawing would help.

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#### lev888

##### Senior Member
Ok, so the fence is the line in the drawing. What does its cost depend on?

#### eddy2017

##### Full Member
Ok, so the fence is the line in the drawing. What does its cost depend on?
On the dimensions of the field.

#### eddy2017

##### Full Member
For me, even when you may not have the title, all of you are professors and doctors.

#### lev888

##### Senior Member
On the dimensions of the field.
Forget about the field for now. If the fence is a line, what does its cost depend on?

#### eddy2017

##### Full Member
On the dimensions of the field.
I know that,
3 ft of fencing costs =4 dollars
the area has 180,000 ft
but I am struggling in how to find how many three feet there are in 180,000
once I know that, I can multiply that amount by 4, and I have the answer.

#### eddy2017

##### Full Member
Forget about the field for now. If the fence is a line, what does its cost depend on?
I don't seem to think of anything.

#### eddy2017

##### Full Member
I don't seem to think of anything.
if it is nothing related to the dimensions of the fence, I am stumped.

#### lev888

##### Senior Member
I know that,
3 ft of fencing costs =4 dollars
the area has 180,000 ft
but I am struggling in how to find how many three feet there are in 180,000
once I know that, I can multiply that amount by 4, and I have the answer.
Hint: forget about the field and answer my question. If the fence is a line, what does its cost depend on?

#### eddy2017

##### Full Member
Hint: forget about the field and answer my question. If the fence is a line, what does its cost depend on?
the perimeter around it.
How much fence is needed to go around, perhaps.

#### Otis

##### Elite Member
… the perimeter …
Correct, eddy. (The fence cost is not a function of the area. It is a function of the fence length.)

How long is the fence? That is, what's the perimeter?

Every yard of fence costs \$4.

#### lev888

##### Senior Member
the perimeter around it.
How much fence is needed to go around, perhaps.
It's important to pause here and think about what happened. You quickly read the problem, saw some numbers and the rectangular shape and decided that since the shape is a rectangle, you needed to calculate its area by multiplying width and length. But now it turns out you don't need the area at all.
Remember the recent distance problem? I noted that starting from what the problem is asking about and gathering all the necessary information, makes more sense. If you start from the givens and try to apply various operations to them in the hope of finding the solution, you may get lost.
So, look at the question carefully, determine which formula or relationship should be used to find the main unknown, write it down. If some of the components in this formula are not yet know, write down more formulas, etc. Then you evaluate/solve the resulting expressions or equations.

#### eddy2017

##### Full Member
Okay, thanks.

The perimeter of a rectangle is found by adding up the length of all four sides. Since the two long sides are 600 ft and the two shorter sides are 300 ft the perimeter can be found by adding up
600 + 600 + 300 + 300 =1,800 ft^2
that is the perimeter of the rectangular field.
so, if every yard is 4 dollars
and there are 3 ft to 1 yard

#### eddy2017

##### Full Member
Okay, thanks.

The perimeter of a rectangle is found by adding up the length of all four sides. Since the two long sides are 600 ft and the two shorter sides are 300 ft the perimeter can be found by adding up
600 + 600 + 300 + 300 =1,800 ft^2
that is the perimeter of the rectangular field.
so, if every yard is 4 dollars
and there are 3 ft to 1 yard
I need a hint here.

#### Otis

##### Elite Member
… 1,800 ft^2
Hi eddy. Be mindful of units. That says square feet (which is a measure of area, not length).

Do you know how to convert 1800 feet to yards? That's the next step.

Last edited:

#### eddy2017

##### Full Member
Hi eddy. Be mindful of units. That says 1800 square feet (which is a measure of area, not length).

Do you know how to convert 1800 feet to yards? That's the next step.

Oh, yes , right.
So, 1,800 ft
Foot (ft) is equal to 0.3333333 yard. To convert feet to yards, I multiply the feet value by 0.3333333 or divide by 3.
1,800 ft to yards= 600 yards.
Each yard costs 4 dollars.
600 * 4 =2400
So, the total cost of fencing is 2,400 dollars.

#### eddy2017

##### Full Member
Thanks a million to you both, lev and otis.