Find length and width of each yard, given fencing info, etc.

M

max

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Jun 1, 2007
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Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones each built a similar stone fence to enclose his backyard. They only enclosed three sides, each using his house as the fourth side and had a community fence between the two yards. If the total cost was $5 per linear foot, the yards were 20 feet wider than they were deep, and the total cost was $950, what were the length and width of each yard?

Where to begin?
 
Draw a sketch:
Code: 
___________________________________________________________________ Walls
 |                               |                              |
 |                               |                              |
 |W                              |                              |
 |                               |                              |
 |             L                 |             L                |
--------------------------------------------------------------------
                                 ^
                                 |
              Community fence
Now continue.....
 
I still don't understand how to set up equation. Am I suppose to find width, length and depth?
 
Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones each built a similar stone fence to enclose his backyard. They only enclosed three sides, each using his house as the fourth side and had a community fence between the two yards. If the total cost was $5 per linear foot, the yards were 20 feet wider than they were deep, and the total cost was $950, what were the length and width of each yard?

Let d = the length of the fence perpendicular to the house.
Let w = the width of each yeard == d + 20.

Then, 5[3d +2(d + 20)] = 950.

Solve for d and w.
 
That is what was confusing me. So "deep" in the question, refers to length? I always thought in word problems it referred only to the depth as in a box. That is what I couldn't picture in this problem.
 
That is confusing.... this problem switches between "depth" and "length" -- careless notation!
 
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