Financial Accounting

Question

Find the dimensions of a rectangle whose width is 6 miles less than its length and whose area is 72 square miles

Answer 1

You are given the area of the rectangle is 72 miles.

You are given the width is 6 miles less than the length.

The area of a rectangle is length * width.

Let W= Width, Let L = length

Therefore W= L-6

Substituting for W the equation would be:

L *(L-6) = 72

Distributing the L we would have:

(L *L) + (L * -6) = 72

= L^2 – 6L = 72

Move 72 to the left side to make the equation:

L^2 – 6L – 72 = 0

Factoring the equation, you would have

(L + 6) (L -12) = 0

Therefore L= -6 & L= 12

We know the distance cannot be negative.

Therefore L = 12

W= L- 6 or 12 -6

W=6

The length is 12 miles, and the width is 6 miles.

12 miles * 6 miles = 72 miles (area)

Answer 2

Hi April,

We know that a rectangles area is it's L( length) times the W (width). So L * W = 72. We also know the Width W = L - 6. If you use substitution for the W in the formula L * W = 72, you can solve for L and then after that solve for W. Hope that helps!!

Good luck!