document.write( "Question 175046: One side of a rectangle is 3 inches shorter than the other side, and the perimeter is 54 inches. what are the dimension of the rectangle? \n" ); document.write( "
Algebra.Com's Answer #130139 by actuary(112)![]() ![]() ![]() You can put this solution on YOUR website! Let l be the length of the rectangle\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Let w be the width of the rectangle.\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "From the description of the problem we can write the following equations:\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "l=w-3 (Equation #1)\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "2l + 2w = 54 (Equation #2)\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Substitute equation #1 into Equation #2 and simplifify\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "2*(w-3)+2*w=54\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "2w-6+2w = 54\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "4w = 60\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Solve for w\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "w = 60/4 = 15\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Substitute w = 15 into Equation #2 to solve for l\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "2*l + 2(15) = 54\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "2*l + 30 = 54\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "2*l = 54-30 = 24\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "l = 12\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Also, w-l =15-12=3 (agrees with equation #1)\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "I hope that this helps. \n" ); document.write( " \r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " |