The area of the rectangular slab of foam insulation is 24 square meters. Find the dimensions of the slab.

Question

Ppicture of the slab one side of the length is (2w+2)m

Answer 1

The area of a rectangle is length x width.

The length expressed in terms of the width is 2w + 2

So the area = length x width = (2w + 2) * w = 24

Expanding: 2w**2 + 2w = 24

Subtract 24 from both sides: 2w**2 + 2w - 24 = 0

Divide by 2: w**2 + w - 12 = 0

Factor: (w+4) (w-3) = 0

Possible Solutions: w=-4 or w=3

Since only positive width makes sense: w=3 (meters)

Since length = 2w+2, length = 2(3) + 2 = 8 (meters)

As verification: area = length x width = 3m x 8m = 24 m**2