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Advanced Math / Nonlinear functions Difficulty: Hard

A park ranger hung squirrel houses each in the shape of a right rectangular prism for fox squirrels. Each house has a height of 11 inches. The length of each house's base is x inches, which is 1 inch more than the width of the house's base. Which function V gives the volume of each house, in cubic inches, in terms of the length of the house's base?

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Explanation

Choice A is correct. The volume of a prism is equal to the area of its base times its height. It's given that the length of each house's base is x inches and that this length is 1 inch more than the width, in inches, of the house's base. It follows that the width, in inches, of the house's base is x-1. The area of a rectangle is the product of its length and its width. Therefore, the area of the base of the house is x(x-1) square inches. It's given that the height of each house is 11 inches. Therefore, the function V that gives the volume of each house, in cubic inches, in terms of the length of the house's base x is V(x)=x(x-1)11, or V(x)=11x(x-1).

Choice B is incorrect and may result from conceptual or calculation errors.

Choice C is incorrect and may result from conceptual or calculation errors.

Choice D is incorrect and may result from conceptual or calculation errors.