a small garden measures 8ft by 10ft. a uniform border around the garden increases the total area to 143 ft squared. what is the width of the border

Answer 1

Hi Kat,

If we let the width of the border be called w then we have (8+2w)(10+2w)=143 if you foil this and simplify

you get a quadratic equation for w. I got 4w²+36w-63=0 solving this for the positive root gives w=1.5 ft. Checking this answer gives (8+3)(10+3) =143 checks

Hope this helps, let me know f you have questions

Jim