The perimeter of a rectangle is 20 inches. The length of the rectangle is one more than twice its width. Find the dimensions of the rectangle.

Question

This is a problem for my math class.

Answer 1

Hi Anna,

So draw out a rectangle. Label one side and the opposite side with "w" indicating width. You got 2 of the sides.

Now the other side is "one more than twice the width". Twice the width is 2W and one more is +1. So your other side of the rectangle is 2w+1. Write that on opposite sides of the other rectangle legs.

Now you have to set up the equation. Since you're trying to find the perimeter, you just need to add all 4 sides together and set it to 20 inches.

It should look like this: w + w + 2w + 1 + 2w + 1 = 20

Simplified it should look like this: 6w + 2 = 20

Subtract 2 from both sides, and divide what's left by 6 to get "w". You now know the width. (I'll stop giving answers here since you should be able to take it from here)

But wait, you're not done yet! Since it's asking for the dimensions, you need to plug in your "w" in for the length. We determined this to be 2w + 1. You plug in your "w" value into that to get the length.

You dimensions answer could look similar to this: "8in x 5in" (not the correct answer, just an illustration of how it should look).

I hope this helps! Should you need any additional help, please don't hesitate to reach out - I can also offer tutoring over video conference! Good luck!