document.write( "Question 712636: I'm having trouble with this one! A rectangular garden has dimensions 3m by 4m. A path is built around the garden. The area of the garden and path is 6 times as great as the area of the garden. What is the width of the path? \n" ); document.write( "
Algebra.Com's Answer #438083 by jim_thompson5910(35256)\"\" \"About 
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The area of the garden is 3*4 = 12 square meters.\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Multiply this by 6 to get 12*6 = 72. We do this because \"The area of the garden and path is 6 times as great as the area of the garden\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "So the area of the garden+path = 72 square meters\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "So if x = width of the path, then the width goes from 3 to 3+2x meters. This is because you're adding x to each direction on the width. Similarly, the length jumps from 4 to 4+2x meters\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "The area of the garden+path in algebraic form is\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"%283%2B2x%29%284%2B2x%29\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "but this is 72 square meters which is what we found earlier, so\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"%283%2B2x%29%284%2B2x%29+=+72\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Solve for x\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"%283%2B2x%29%284%2B2x%29+=+72\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"12+%2B+6x+%2B+8x+%2B+4x%5E2+=+72\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"12+%2B+6x+%2B+8x+%2B+4x%5E2+-+72+=+0\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"4x%5E2+%2B+14x+-+60+=+0\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"2%282x%5E2+%2B+7x+-+30%29+=+0\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"2x%5E2+%2B+7x+-+30+=+0%2F2\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"2x%5E2+%2B+7x+-+30+=+0\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Now use the quadratic formula to solve for x\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x+=+%28-b%2B-sqrt%28b%5E2-4ac%29%29%2F%282a%29\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x+=+%28-%287%29%2B-sqrt%28%287%29%5E2-4%282%29%28-30%29%29%29%2F%282%282%29%29\" Plug in \"a+=+2\", \"b+=+7\", \"c+=+-30\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x+=+%28-7%2B-sqrt%2849-%28-240%29%29%29%2F%284%29\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x+=+%28-7%2B-sqrt%2849%2B240%29%29%2F%284%29\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x+=+%28-7%2B-sqrt%28289%29%29%2F4\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x+=+%28-7%2Bsqrt%28289%29%29%2F4\" or \"x+=+%28-7-sqrt%28289%29%29%2F4\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x+=+%28-7%2B17%29%2F4\" or \"x+=+%28-7-17%29%2F4\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x+=+10%2F4\" or \"x+=+-24%2F4\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x+=+5%2F2\" or \"x+=+-6\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Toss out the negative solution since a negative width of the path makes no sense at all.\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "So the only reasonable answer is 5/2 = 2.5 meters\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Therefore, in the end, the width of the path is 2.5 meters
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