Bob wants to plant a 7 foot by 10 foot garden with a uniform border of petunias around the outside and still have 28 square feet to plant tomatoes and roses in the middle. how wide should the border of petunias be?

1.5 feet

Step-by-step explanation:

Bob wants to plant a 7 foot by 10 foot garden.

Area = square feet

He wants to make a uniform border of petunias around the outside and still have 28 square feet to plant tomatoes and roses in the middle.

Means we have to factor 28 in a way that the length and width is less than 10 and 7.

28 = 2 x 2 x 7

Means 4 feet can be width and 7 feet the length of the area where tomatoes need to be planted.

So, we have feet less than outer garden means at each side feet decreases.

Similarly, we have feet less width and at each side it is 1.5 feet.

Therefore, the border of petunias will be 1.5 feet wide on all sides.

Width of the border is 1.5 feet.

Step-by-step explanation:

Let x be the width ( in feet ) of the border,

Given,

The dimension of the garden =  7 foot by 10 foot,

So, the dimension of the middle ( garden area excluded border )= (7 - 2x) foot by (10 - 2x) foot

Hence, the area of the middle = (7 - 2x)(10 - 2x)

According to the question,

       ( Combine like terms )

 ( Middle term splitting )

By zero product property,

4x - 6 or x - 7 = 0

⇒ x = 1.5 or x = 7

Since, width of the border can not be equal to the dimension of the garden,

Therefore, the width would be 1.5 foot.

equal to

step-by-step explanation: