SOLUTION: The area of a rectangular conference table is 51 square feet. If its length is 4 feet longer than its width, find the dimensions of the table. Round each dimension to the nearest t

Algebra.Com
Question 450354: The area of a rectangular conference table is 51 square feet. If its length is 4 feet longer than its width, find the dimensions of the table. Round each dimension to the nearest tenth of a foot, if necessary.
Answer by jorel1380(3719)   (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
x(x+4)=51
x2+4x-51=0
Solved by pluggable solver: SOLVE quadratic equation with variable
Quadratic equation (in our case ) has the following solutons:



For these solutions to exist, the discriminant should not be a negative number.

First, we need to compute the discriminant : .

Discriminant d=220 is greater than zero. That means that there are two solutions: .




Quadratic expression can be factored:

Again, the answer is: 5.41619848709566, -9.41619848709566. Here's your graph:

Throwing out the negative answer, we get the dimensions of the table to be
5.42ft. by 9.42ft..
RELATED QUESTIONS

The length of a rectangular storage room is 4 feet longer than its width. If the area of... (answered by Alan3354)
The length of a rectangular sign is 4 feet longer than the width. If the sign's area is... (answered by rothauserc)
The length of a rectangular garden is 6 feet longer than its width. If the area of the... (answered by Alan3354)
The width of a rectangular table is 1.2 feet less than its length. If the area of the... (answered by josgarithmetic)
The length of a rectangular storage room is 2 feet longer than its width. If the area of... (answered by josgarithmetic)
The area of a rectangular wall of a barn is 198 square feet. Its length is 4 feet longer (answered by checkley71)
the length of a rectangular garden is 6 feet longer than its width if the area of the... (answered by macston)
The length of a rectangular banner is 5 feet longer than its width. If the area is 66... (answered by ReadingBoosters)
The length of a rectangular banner is 3 feet longer than its width. If the area is 70... (answered by nerdybill)