another crqzy word problem...

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A rancher wants to fence in an area of 3,300,000 square feet in a rectangular field and then divide it in half with a fence down the middle parallel to one side. What is the shortest length of fence that the rancher can use?
 
Hello, bsalerno !

A rancher wants to fence in an area of 3,300,000 square feet in a rectangular field
and then divide it in half with a fence down the middle parallel to one side.
What is the shortest length of fence that the rancher can use?
Code:
      : - - - - x - - - - :
      *---------+---------* 
      |         |         | 
     y|         |y        |y
      |         |         | 
      *---------+---------* 
      : - - - - x - - - - :
The constraint is the area: \(\displaystyle \,A\:=\:xy\:=\:3,300,000\;\;\Rightarrow\;\;y \,=\,\frac{3.300,000}{x}\;\) [1]

The amount of fencing is: \(\displaystyle \,F\:=\:2x\,+\,3y\;\) [2]

Substitute [1] into [2]: \(\displaystyle \:F\;=\;2x\,+\,3\left(\frac{3.300,000}{x}\right)\)


Therefore: \(\displaystyle \,F \;=\;2x\,+\,9,900,000x^{-1}\,\) is the function to minimize.
 
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