Question

a bulletin board consists of four equal - sized cork squares arranged in a row to form a rectangle. if the total area of all four cork squares is 36 square feet, what is the length in feet of the bulletin board?

Explanation:

Step1: Find area of one square

Since there are 4 equal - sized squares with a total area of 36 square feet, the area of one square is $\frac{36}{4}=9$ square feet.

Step2: Find side - length of one square

For a square with area $A = s^{2}$ (where $s$ is the side - length), if $A = 9$ square feet, then $s=\sqrt{9}=3$ feet.

Step3: Determine the length of the bulletin board

The bulletin board is formed by arranging the 4 squares in a row. The length of the bulletin board is equal to 4 times the side - length of one square. So the length $L = 4\times3=12$ feet.

Answer:

12