Help with math

Question

The length of a rectangle is
5 inches more than the width. The perimeter is
26 inches. Find the length and the width.

Answer 1

There's no need to fear! You can do this! First, organize by listing the elements of the question:

Width:      W

Length:    W + 5

Perimeter: 26Now, we need to know how they all relate. The perimeter formula will save the day!;

P = 2L + 2W

Now, plug in everything you know and solve for what you don't.

26 = 2(W+5) + 2W

26 = 2W + 10 + 2W

26 = 4W + 10

Now, we simply solve by doing the opposite of everything with the W:

26  = 4W + 10

-10           =10

16  = 4W

16 / 4 = 4W / 4

  4    =  W

Knowing the width, we can easily get the length from our formula up top:

L = W + 5

L = 4 + 5

L = 9

All done!