What is the product of the minimum dimensions for X and Y (in square inches)?

• A. 144
• B. 288
• C. 216
• D. 320

Answer: (B)

The essential idea is that the smallest area you can get from X and Y comes from using the smallest allowable value of X and the smallest allowable value of Y, then multiplying them. So you identify the two minima from the given constraints and multiply them to get the minimum area in square inches.

In this problem, those two minimum dimensions multiply to 288, so the product is 288 square inches. For comparison, if you imagine a specific pair like X_min = 12 inches and Y_min = 24 inches, you’d get 12 × 24 = 288, which aligns with the answer. The other options would require different minima that don’t satisfy the problem’s constraints.