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A rectangular garden is 10 ft longer than its wide. Its area is 875 ft². What are its dimensions?
Solution:
To illustrate the problem, it is better to draw the figure as follows
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| Photo by Math Principles in Everyday Life |
The area of a rectangle is
Substitute the values of area, length, and width to the above equation in order to solve for the value of x, we have
By completing the square method,
Since the dimensions of a rectangle are all positive values, then we have to choose the positive sign. Hence, the width of a rectangle is
and the length of a rectangle is
.Therefore, the dimensions of a rectangular garden are 25 ft by 35 ft.