SOLUTION: A vacant lot is being converted into a community garden. The garden and the walkway around its perimeter have an area of 550 ft2. Find the width of the walkway if the garden is 12

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Question 1176338: A vacant lot is being converted into a community garden. The garden and the walkway around its perimeter have an area of 550 ft2. Find the width of the walkway if the garden is 12 ft wide by 15 ft long.

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Answer by ikleyn(52781) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
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ANSWER.     5 feet.


HINT 

    Find the decomposition of the number 550 into the product of two divisors whose difference is 3 units:  550 = 25*22.


    Then the width of the walkway is  %2825-15%29%2F2 = 5 feet.    ANSWER

Solved (mentally). 

    Alternatively, you may solve this quadratic equation


        (12+2x)*(15+2x) = 550  ft^2

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If you want to see many other similar solved problems, look into the lessons
    - Problems on the area and the dimensions of a rectangle surrounded by a strip
    - Cynthia Besch wants to buy a rug for a room
    - Problems on a circular pool and a walkway around it
in this site.

Also,  you have this free of charge online textbook in ALGEBRA-I in this site
    - ALGEBRA-I - YOUR ONLINE TEXTBOOK.

The referred lesson is the part of this online textbook under the topic
"Dimensions and the area of rectangles and circles and their elements".

Save the link to this online textbook together with its description

Free of charge online textbook in ALGEBRA-I
https://www.algebra.com/algebra/homework/quadratic/lessons/ALGEBRA-I-YOUR-ONLINE-TEXTBOOK.lesson

to your archive and use it when it is needed.