Question

Find the dimensions and maximum area of a rectangle whose perimeter is 24 inches.

Answer 1

Okay so rectangle has two 'lengths' and two 'widths'
[ie four sides make up the rectangle]

the length cannot be the same as the width other wise it would be a square!

So you know
2*length + 2*width = 24

[the perimeter is the measurement of the outer edge]

so if we call length 'y' and width 'x'
then 2*y + 2*x =24

then you can put in different numbers to see what fits

[e.g for a rectangle of perimeter 20. length =6, width = 4
as the perimeter would equal 6+6+4+4=20]

The area is then calculated by length*width

So in this example
for perimeter =20
length =6
width =4

Area=length*width = 6*4 =24

Then apply this to your own example

Hope this helps :)