A rectangular garden has a length of 18 meters and a width of 7 meters. What is the area, in square meters, of the garden?
For rectangle area questions on the SAT, first confirm that the question asks for area (not perimeter), then immediately write the formula . Plug in the two side lengths given in the problem and multiply carefully, using mental math breakdowns (like splitting 18 into 10 and 8) or a calculator if allowed. Always double-check that you used the correct dimensions from the prompt and did not accidentally add instead of multiply.
Hints
Identify what the question is asking for
The question is asking for the area of a rectangle, not the perimeter. Think about which formula you use for area of a rectangle.
Choose the correct formula
For a rectangle, area is found by multiplying two sides that meet at a corner. Ask yourself: which operation do you need to do with 18 and 7?
Use the correct numbers
The length is 18 meters and the width is 7 meters. Use both of these in your calculation, and make sure you don’t add extra numbers that aren’t in the problem.
Do the multiplication carefully
Break into and if that helps: multiply each part by , then add the results together.
Desmos Guide
Use Desmos to multiply the dimensions
In a new expression line, type 18*7 and look at the numerical result that Desmos shows; that value is the area of the garden in square meters.
Step-by-step Explanation
Recall the formula for the area of a rectangle
For any rectangle, the area is given by the formula
This means you multiply the two side lengths that meet at a corner.
Substitute the given length and width
From the problem, the length is meters and the width is meters.
So the area is
Now we just need to multiply these two numbers.
Multiply to find the area
Compute :
So the area of the rectangular garden is 126 square meters, which corresponds to choice C.