CPM Homework Help : INT3 Problem 11-87

Camping Is Us is designing a large supply tent in the shape of a triangular prism that uses a maximum of $500$ square feet of waterproof material. The height of the tent is $8$ feet and the bottom of the triangular entrance is $12$ feet. What is the maximum length that the tent can be made?

Hint:

Draw a diagram.

More Help:

Find the area of the two triangular end pieces.

Find the width of the two side pieces.

If $x$ is the length of the tent, write an equation showing that the sum of the five sides must be $\le500$ .

Answer:

$x = 12.625$
So probably $12.5$ or $12$ feet.