Windows are 72 inches wide and 84 inches from floor to top of window. If the fabric you like for drapes is 45 inches wide and you want it to be pleated with a complete overlap, which takes twice as much material as if you were just covering the window, how many yards of fabric should you purchase? Note that you may have some "width" left over, but you must purchase the full width because the store will not sell less than 45 inches of width.
A)28 yards
B)7 yards
C)269 yards
D)10 yards

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

To cover a 72-inch wide window with pleated fabric that requires twice the material, you need 144 inches of fabric width. Since the fabric comes in 45-inch widths, you'll need 144 / 45 = 3.2, rounded up to 4 widths of fabric to ensure complete coverage. The length needed is 84 inches (7 feet), but since fabric is sold by the yard and there are 3 feet in a yard, you need 7 yards for each width. For 4 widths, you need 4 * 7 = 28 yards of fabric. However, the correct calculation for the amount of fabric in yards, considering the pleating and the width of the fabric, should lead to a different answer. Given the mistake in the explanation, the correct approach is to first calculate the total width needed for pleating, which is indeed 144 inches. Then, divide this by the width of the fabric (45 inches) to determine how many panels are needed. Since fabric is sold by the yard and not by the foot, and considering the need for pleating, the calculation should focus on the total coverage required in terms of both width and length, and then convert this into yards, taking into account the width of the fabric. The mistake was in the multiplication of the lengths required for each width without correctly accounting for the overlap and the conversion to yards, leading to an incorrect total. The correct calculation involves determining the total square inches of fabric needed (taking into account the pleating requirement) and then converting this into yards, considering the width of the fabric available.

Windows Are 72 Inches Wide and 84 Inches from Floor