Hot-Air Balloon Festival

Madelyn and her family are purchasing the fabric to repair their hot-air balloon.

Madelyn wants to compare the costs of the different fabric colors and the sizes of the panels. She wants to know how much it will cost to fix the balloon's fabric. Let's help Madelyn!

Let's remember the formula for finding area. Area is equal to length times width.

Madelyn starts with a panel that is 10 feet long by 10 feet wide. The red fabric costs $2 per square foot. First, let's find the area of the panel. 10 times 10 is equal to 100 square feet. Next, we need to multiply the area by the unit cost. 100 square feet times 2 dollars is equal to 200 dollars. The red panel will cost 200 dollars!

The next panel Madelyn is going to calculate is a blue panel that is 8 feet by 9 feet and costs $4 per square foot.

What is the area of the panel? 8 times 9 is equal to 72 square feet! Next, let's multiply the area by the unit cost. 72 square feet times 4 dollars per square foot can be solved using the distributive property. 72 square feet can be broken down into 70 \({+}\) 2.

Now we can make this problem be 70 square feet times 4 dollars plus 2 square feet times 4 dollars. First, we multiply 70 square feet \({\times}\) $4 to get $280.

Then we multiply 2 square feet \({\times}\) $4 to get $8. Finally, let's add 280 \({+}\) 8 to get 288! The blue panel will cost 288 dollars!

Finally, Madelyn has white panels to calculate. The panels are 9 feet by 10 feet, and the white fabric is $3 per square foot.

First, let's find the area of the panel. 9 times 10 is equal to 90 square feet. Next, let's multiply the area by the cost. 90 square feet times 3 dollars is equal to 270 dollars.

The white panel will cost 270 dollars!

Great job multiplying and finding the area and the cost of the fabrics! Now Madelyn and her family know how much it will cost for the panels they need to repair their hot-air balloon.