Terry is going to make an open top box by cutting equal squares from the four corners of an 11 inch by 14 inch sheet of cardborad and folding up the side. If the area of the base is to be 80 square inches, then what size square should be cut from each corner?

Show us what you've come up with so far. Are you having a problem setting up the equation?

I'm having trouble setting up the equation.

OK. You know that the original piece of cardboard is size 11 x 14 inches. Imagine cutting a square of size X by X out of each corner, so that you could then fold up the remaining sides to make an open-top box. The dimension of the base of that box will be 14-2X by 11 - 2X. See the attached figure. The area of the base is 80 square inches. Can you take it from here and set up the quadratic equation to solve for X?

Hey ebaines. What did you use to make that nice diagram?

Hey ebaines. What did you use to make that nice diagram?.

Powerpoint, then saved as a JPG.

Thank you.

Thanks A Million