The length of a rectangular athletic field is 5 less than twice the width. If the perimeter of the athletic field is 146 yards, what are its dimensions in width and length?

Answer 1

Because the length of the field is 5 less then twice the width, we can write:

2w - l = 5, here w - width and l - the length of the rectangle.

Perimeter consists of 2 width and 2 length, so we have:

P = 2(w + l) or 146 = 2( w + l)

After division by 2, we see that the sum of width and length of the rectangle is w + l = 73 yards.

Now we have the system of 2 equations:

2w - l = 5

w + l = 73

If we add them together length l canceled out and we get

3w = 78

Hence, w = 78/3 = 26 yards. Then the length l is 73 - 26 = 47 yards.

Answer: the width is 26 yards; the length is 47 yards