SOLUTION: A rectangular plot measures 12m by 5m. A path of constant width runs along one side and one end. If the total area of the plot and the path is 120m^2, find the width of the path.
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Question 1136807: A rectangular plot measures 12m by 5m. A path of constant width runs along one side and one end. If the total area of the plot and the path is 120m^2, find the width of the path. Answer by ikleyn(53937) (Show Source):
The smaller rectangle has dimensions 12 by 5 meters with the difference of 12-5 = 7 meters.
Since the path has uniform width, the larger rectangle has dimensions that differ by 7 meters, too.
So, you need to find two numbers, whose product is 120 and whose difference is 7.
This task is 5 seconds for your mental work.
The answer is 15 and 8.
So, the larger rectangle has the length of 15 meters against 12 meters for smaller rectangle.
The difference of 3 meters = 15 - 12 is TWICE the width of the patn.
Hence, the answer is 3/2 = 1.5 meters.
ANSWER. The width of the path is 1.5 meters.
My congrats: you learned on how to solve such problem mentally !
