SOLUTION: The length of a rectangle is 3 inches more than the width. The area of the rectangle is 154 inches. Find the width of the rectangle.

Question 289094: The length of a rectangle is 3 inches more than the width. The area of the rectangle is 154 inches. Find the width of the rectangle.
Answer by jim_thompson5910(35256) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Let L = length and W = width

Since "The length of a rectangle is 3 inches more than the width", we know that (just add 3 to the width to get the length). Furthermore, we're given that "The area of the rectangle is 154 inches", so we can say that (recall that the area of a rectangle is , multiply the length and width to get the area).

So we have the two equations: and

Start with the second equation.

Plug in . In other words, replace each "L" with "W+3". Notice how the "L" terms are now gone and we now have an equation with one variable.

Rearrange the terms.

Distribute.

Subtract 154 from both sides.

Factor the right side.

or Use the zero product property.

or Solve for 'W' in each equation.

So the two possible solutions for 'W' are or . However, since we can't have a negative width, the only solution is .

So the width is 11 inches. Now just plug this value into to get . So the length is 14 inches.

Take note that the length is indeed more than width and that 11*14=154 which verifies our answer.
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