Question

Dana buys a plot of land that is 30 yards by 50 yards to build a new house. Dana’s blueprint for the new house shows that the house will cover 900 square yards of land. What percent of Dana’s lot will ​not​ be covered by the house?

Answer 1

Solution: Convert the lot dimensions to feet

35 yards ×3 feet1 yard=105 feet

50 yards ×3 feet1 yard=150 feet

So the area of the entire lot is 105 feet×150 feet=15,750 square feet.

Therefore the percent of the lot NOT covered by Dana's house will be

15,750−160015,750≈0.898≈90%.

Solution: Convert the house area to square yards

Explanation:

1 yard=3 feet,

so

1 square yard=3 feet×3 feet=9 square feet.

Therefore, Dana's house covers

1600 square feet×1 square yard9 square feet≈177.8 square yards.

On the other hand, Dana's lot is 35 yards×50 yards=1,750 yards.

The percentage of Dana's lot NOT covered by her house is:

1,750−177.81,750≈0.898≈90%