[Math] Calculus Area Problem: Shortest length of a fence…

areacalculusderivativesoptimization

Hello all this is my first question on this website!

A rancher wants to fence in an area of 1,000,000 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?

I understand that I will have to find the derivative of something… but I have problems sorting out the information and actually getting somewhere with this problem. Thanks!

Best Answer

Hint: Draw a picture. Let the length of the "middle" fence be $x$. Write $x$ beside this length of fence. Write $x$ beside the two sides of the field that are parallel to the middle fence. Write $y$ beside the remaining two sides of the fenced region.

The total amount of fencing we use is $3x+2y$. This is what we want to minimize. Note that $xy=10^6$. It follows that the amount $F(x)$ of fencing that we use is given by $$F(x)=3x+\frac{2\times 10^6}{x}.$$ Minimize $F(x)$ using the usual techniques.