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Question from lakisha, a student:

you want to buy carpet for a room that is 15 feet wide and 18 feet long. Find the amount of carpet you need.
What information do you need to know to solve this problem.

Hi Lakisha,

If you multiply the length of the room by the width of the room you will find the area is square feet so you might say that is the amount of carpet you need. However it is seldom that straightforward. If the roll of carpet is 15 feet wide then you can just purchase an 18 foot long piece, but I doubt if you will find carpet in 15 foot wide rolls. It is more likely that the roll of carpet is 12 feet wide. So if you buy an 18 foot long piece that is 12 feet wide you need to cover the rest of the floor that is 3 feet wide by 18 feet long. How much do you need to purchase to cover that piece of the floor? Maybe you run the carpet the other way and you purchase a 15 foot long piece that is 12 feet wide. How do you cover the rest of the floor?

Another question might be whether the carpet has a pattern that you need to match at the seams. If so there might be some wastage to get the pattern to match.

I hope this helps,
Penny

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