document.write( "Question 1179244: Suppose that the width of a rectangle is three times less than two thirds of its length. The perimeter of the rectangle is one hundred and forty four centimetres. Find the length and width
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Algebra.Com's Answer #808771 by greenestamps(13200) $\"\"$ $\"About$

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\n" ); document.write( "Here is the grammatically correct interpretation of the nonsensical statement \"the width of a rectangle is three times less than two thirds of its length\".

\n" ); document.write( "Let x be the length; then \"three times less than two thirds of its length\" means \"two thirds of x, minus 3 times x\":

\n" ); document.write( " $\"%282%2F3%29x-%283%29x+=+%28-8%2F3%29x\"$

\n" ); document.write( "Assuming the length x is a positive number, we now have a width that is a negative number. Obviously that is nonsense.

\n" ); document.write( "Unfortunately, similar phrases are used frequently:
\n" ); document.write( "\"Our product costs five times less to use than our competitor's product\"
\n" ); document.write( "\"The number of items in stock is three times less than it was a week ago\"

\n" ); document.write( "One can only guess what the true numbers are, because the phrases do not make any sense.

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