SOLUTION: Mr. Balter wanted to make a plywood rectangular table top that would be 3 feet longer than it was wide. He found that by making the top 1 foot narrower and 2 feet shorter than pla

Question 31079: Mr. Balter wanted to make a plywood rectangular table top that would be 3 feet longer than it was wide. He found that by making the top 1 foot narrower and 2 feet shorter than planned, he could save $2.60 on the plywood. If the plywood he was using cost 20 cents per square foot, what were Mr. Balter's original dimensions for his table top?
Answer by checkley71(8403) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
SEEING AS THE WOOD COST $.20 PER SQ FOOT THEN HE SAVED A TOTAL OF 13 SQ FEET WITH THE REDUCED TABLE SIZE THEREFORE
X(X+3)=(X-1)(X+1)+13 THIS COMPARES THE ORIGINAL SIZE X WIDE AND (X+3) LONG &
THE REDUCED SIZE OF (X-1) FOR THE WIDTH AND (X+3-2) FOR THE LENGTH
THUS WE HAVE X~2+3X=X~2-1+13 OR CANCELLING OUT THE X~2 WE ARE LEFT WITH
3X=12 OR X=12/3 OR X=4
PROOF THE ORIGINAL TABLE WAS 4 BY 7 OR 28 SQ FEET @ .20 SQ FOOT IT COST $5.60
THE REDUCED TABLE OF (4-1) AND (7-2) OR 3 BY 5 OR 15 SQ FEET @$.20 SQ FOOT IT COST $3.00 THERFORE THE SAVINGS WAS $5.60-$3.00=$2.60
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