document.write( "Question 325298: A rectangular lawn measuring 8m by 4m is surrounded by a flower bed of uniform width. The combined area of the lawn and flower bed is 165mē. What is the width of the flower bed?
\n" ); document.write( "Let x be the width of the flowerbed
\n" ); document.write( "(8+2x)(4+2x)=165
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Algebra.Com's Answer #232954 by jim_thompson5910(35256)\"\" \"About 
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\"%288%2B2x%29%284%2B2x%29=165\" Start with the given equation.\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"32%2B16x%2B8x%2B4x%5E2=165\" FOIL\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"32%2B16x%2B8x%2B4x%5E2-165=0\" Subtract 165 from both sides.\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"4x%5E2%2B24x-133=0\" Combine like terms.\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Notice that the quadratic \"4x%5E2%2B24x-133\" is in the form of \"Ax%5E2%2BBx%2BC\" where \"A=4\", \"B=24\", and \"C=-133\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Let's use the quadratic formula to solve for \"x\":\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x+=+%28-B+%2B-+sqrt%28+B%5E2-4AC+%29%29%2F%282A%29\" Start with the quadratic formula\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x+=+%28-%2824%29+%2B-+sqrt%28+%2824%29%5E2-4%284%29%28-133%29+%29%29%2F%282%284%29%29\" Plug in \"A=4\", \"B=24\", and \"C=-133\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x+=+%28-24+%2B-+sqrt%28+576-4%284%29%28-133%29+%29%29%2F%282%284%29%29\" Square \"24\" to get \"576\". \r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x+=+%28-24+%2B-+sqrt%28+576--2128+%29%29%2F%282%284%29%29\" Multiply \"4%284%29%28-133%29\" to get \"-2128\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x+=+%28-24+%2B-+sqrt%28+576%2B2128+%29%29%2F%282%284%29%29\" Rewrite \"sqrt%28576--2128%29\" as \"sqrt%28576%2B2128%29\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x+=+%28-24+%2B-+sqrt%28+2704+%29%29%2F%282%284%29%29\" Add \"576\" to \"2128\" to get \"2704\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x+=+%28-24+%2B-+sqrt%28+2704+%29%29%2F%288%29\" Multiply \"2\" and \"4\" to get \"8\". \r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x+=+%28-24+%2B-+52%29%2F%288%29\" Take the square root of \"2704\" to get \"52\". \r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x+=+%28-24+%2B+52%29%2F%288%29\" or \"x+=+%28-24+-+52%29%2F%288%29\" Break up the expression. \r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x+=+%2828%29%2F%288%29\" or \"x+=++%28-76%29%2F%288%29\" Combine like terms. \r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x+=+7%2F2\" or \"x+=+-19%2F2\" Simplify. \r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "So the solutions are \"x+=+7%2F2\" or \"x+=+-19%2F2\" \r
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\n" ); document.write( "However, 'x' is a length. So we'll ignore the negative answer.\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "So the width of the flower bed is \"x=7%2F2\" which is 3.5 meters.
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