Question: Bob is building raised beds for his vegetable garden. Each bed is 2 feet high, 2 feet wide, and 8 feet long. The sides are going to be built of 1-foot wide planks. If Bob buys his lumber in 8-foot-long boards, planning to cut some of them for the shorter lengths he'll need, how many 8-foot long planks will he need to construct 10 raised beds? Think carefully first, then make a decision:
Each raised bed is 8 feet long, the same as the planks, so the long sides of the beds will each be 1 plank long. Each raised bed is 2 feet wide, or 2 / 8 = 1 / 4 the length of the planks, so the short sides will each be 1 / 4 plank long. Each bed is 2 feet tall, and the planks are 1 foot wide, so each side will need 2 pieces of lumber of the same length. So each bed will require 2 * 2 * 1.25 = 4 * 1.25 = 5 planks of wood. Bob wants to build 10 raised beds, so he will need 10 * 5 = 50 planks of lumber. So the answer is 50.