A rectangular piece of cardboard measures 12 inches by 40 inches. Squares are cut out of the corners and the sides are folded up to create an open-top box. Write a polynomial function to model the volume of the box. What is the maximum length of the cut that will produce the maximum volume? What is the maximum volume?

do you have the measurements?

let's cover over the formula of the vertex:

y = a(x – h)^2 + k

in this formula, (h,k) are the vertex, always remember that the positive or negative value of the vertex is based on the sign it has.

for example, if the vertex is -3,-6 then both the x and y value would have the positive sign attached to it and if it were a positive x and y value, then a negative sign would be attached to it.

with that being said, for our problem the x value is a positive one so we are looking for a number with a negative sign next to it, in this case the first and second choice.

however, for the first answer choice it isn't quite part of the formula so we know that the answer choice correctly displays the x value.

to confirm, we can see if the -1 fits correctly with the second answer choice, and as mentioned above a negative number will have a positive sign attached to it. so, for our problem we can see that -1 has been changed to +1, so we can confirm that the second answer choice is correct.

hence, our final answer is y=(x - 1)^2 + 1

the answer is 99.