Answer:
54 chickens
Step-by-step explanation:
This problem requires you find the area of Thomas's field, then use that area to find the number of chickens he can keep. The irregularly-shaped field can be considered as composed of shapes that you know how to find the area of.
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field area
There are many ways the area can be divided. One of them is shown in the attachment. That shows the area to be the sum of the areas of a triangle and a trapezoid.
The triangle has a base of 20 m and a height of 7 m, so an area of ...
A = 1/2bh
A = 1/2(20 m)(7 m) = 70 m²
The trapezoid has bases of 11 m and 18 m, and a height of 14 m. Its area is ...
A = 1/2(b1 +b2)h
A = 1/2(11 m +18 m)(14 m) = 1/2(29 m)(14 m) = 203 m²
The area of the field is the sum of these areas:
field area = triangle area + trapezoid area
field area = 70 m² +203 m² = 273 m²
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chickens
Each chicken requires an area of 5 m², so the total area for n chickens is ...
area for n chickens = 5n . . . . square meters
This area cannot exceed the area of the field, so an inequality can be written:
area for n chickens ≤ field area
5n ≤ 273
n ≤ 54.6 . . . . . . divide by 5
Thomas can keep a maximum of 54 chickens in the field.
