South Dakota is approximately the shape of a rectangle. If it averages 202 miles in width and has an area of 77,047 square miles, what is the average length of the state in whole numbers?
A)77,249 miles
B)381 miles
C)381.4 miles
D)15,563,494 miles

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

We know that the area of a rectangle is equal to the length multiplied by the width. Therefore:

length x width = area
length x 202 = 77,047
length = 77,047/202
length ≈ 381.4

Since we are looking for the average length in whole numbers, we round down to the nearest whole number, which gives us:

length ≈ 381

Therefore, the best choice is B) 381 miles.

South Dakota Is Approximately the Shape of a Rectangle