document.write( "Question 125348: The ancient Greeks thought that the most pleasing shape for a rectangle was one for which the ratio of the length to the width was 8 to 5, the golden ratio. If the length of a rectangular painting is 2 feet longer than its width, then for what dimension would the length and width have the golden ratio? \n" ); document.write( "
Algebra.Com's Answer #91863 by solver91311(24713)![]() ![]() You can put this solution on YOUR website! I'm going to presume that you are expected to calculate this using 8 to 5 as an approximation of the golden ratio, even though the actual golden ratio is an irrational number expressed exactly by \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Let x be the unknown width, and then x + 2 would be the unknown length. Since the sides must be in the proportion 8:5, we can write:\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Cross-multiplying:\r \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "If you are curious, write back and I'll send you the calculations using the correct value for the golden ratio. \n" ); document.write( " |