A landscaping company has been commissioned to design a triangular flower bed for a mall
entrance. The final dimensions of the flower bed have not been determined, but the company
knows that the height will be two feet less than the base. The area of the flower bed can be
represented by the equation
A = 1/2b^2 - b.
1. Write this equation in factored form
2. Suppose the base of the flower bed is 16 feet. What will be it’s area?