Question 114394: If the sides of a square are decreased by 2cm, the area is decreased by 36 cm squared. What were the dimensions of the original square? Answer by solver91311(24713) (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! Start with defining a variable to represent the length of a side of the original square, let's call it x.
So the area of the original square would be .
The new square is 2 cm shorter on each side, so one of the sides must measure , and the area of the new square must be .
But we know that . Substituting: .
Now, expand the binomial, collect terms, and put the equation in standard form.
