A rectangle with a constant area has possible lengths and widths as shown in the table below.

Width vs. Length of a Rectangle

\begin{tabular}{|c|c|}
\hline Width [tex]$(w)$[/tex] & Length [tex]$(l)$[/tex] \\
\hline 2 & 37.5 \\
\hline 4 & 18.75 \\
\hline 6 & 12.5 \\
\hline 8 & 9.375 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}

Which equation can be used to find any corresponding length and width that fit the pattern in this table?

A. [tex] l = \frac{k}{w} [/tex], where [tex] l [/tex] is the length, [tex] w [/tex] is the width, and [tex] k [/tex] is a constant ([tex] w \neq 0 [/tex])

B. [tex] l = m w + b [/tex], where [tex] l [/tex] is the length, [tex] w [/tex] is the width, and [tex] m [/tex] and [tex] b [/tex] are constants

C. [tex] l = k w^{\frac{1}{2}} [/tex], where [tex] l [/tex] is the length, [tex] w [/tex] is the width, and [tex] k [/tex] is a constant

D. [tex] l = a w^2 [/tex], where [tex] l [/tex] is the length, [tex] w [/tex] is the width, and [tex] a [/tex] is a constant



Answer :

To determine which equation can be used to find any corresponding length [tex]\(l\)[/tex] and width [tex]\(w\)[/tex] that fit the pattern in the given table, we need to analyze the relationship between [tex]\(l\)[/tex] and [tex]\(w\)[/tex].

The table provides the following data pairs for width ([tex]\(w\)[/tex]) and length ([tex]\(l\)[/tex]):

[tex]\[ \begin{array}{|c|c|} \hline \text{Width} \, (w) & \text{Length} \, (l) \\ \hline 2 & 37.5 \\ \hline 4 & 18.75 \\ \hline 6 & 12.5 \\ \hline 8 & 9.375 \\ \hline \end{array} \][/tex]

We hypothesize that the relationship between [tex]\(w\)[/tex] and [tex]\(l\)[/tex] follows the equation [tex]\(l = \frac{k}{w}\)[/tex], where [tex]\(k\)[/tex] is a constant.

To verify this, we need to calculate the product [tex]\(l \cdot w\)[/tex] for each pair of values provided in the table and check if the product remains constant.

[tex]\[ \begin{align*} (2, 37.5) &: 2 \cdot 37.5 = 75.0 \\ (4, 18.75) &: 4 \cdot 18.75 = 75.0 \\ (6, 12.5) &: 6 \cdot 12.5 = 75.0 \\ (8, 9.375) &: 8 \cdot 9.375 = 75.0 \\ \end{align*} \][/tex]

Since the product [tex]\(l \cdot w\)[/tex] is 75.0 for each pair, it confirms that [tex]\(k = 75.0\)[/tex]. This means the relationship between the width [tex]\(w\)[/tex] and the length [tex]\(l\)[/tex] is indeed described by the equation [tex]\(l = \frac{k}{w}\)[/tex], with [tex]\(k = 75.0\)[/tex].

Thus, the correct equation to represent the relationship between the width and the length of the rectangle, given the data in the table, is:

[tex]\[ l = \frac{75.0}{w} \][/tex]

Therefore, the equation [tex]\(l = \frac{k}{w}\)[/tex] fits the pattern in the table, where [tex]\(k = 75.0\)[/tex].

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