SOLUTION: If each side of a square is lengthened by 4m, the area becomes 49m^2.Find the length of a side of the original square

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Question 146616: If each side of a square is lengthened by 4m, the area becomes 49m^2.Find the length of a side of the original square
Answer by Fombitz(32388) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Let's call the original length, S.
%28S%2B4%29%5E2=49
S%5E2%2B8S%2B16=49
S%5E2%2B8S-33=0
You can factor that into,
%28S%2B11%29%28S-3%29=0
Since a negative length would not make sense, we will only use the positive result.
S-3=0
S=3
The length of the original side was 3 m.