SOLUTION: when the sides of a square are increased by 3 feet, the area becomes 25 square feet. find the length of the side of the original square

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Question 691372: when the sides of a square are increased by 3 feet, the area becomes 25 square feet. find the length of the side of the original square
Answer by mouk(232) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Let the original side of the square be +x+, then new side is +x%2B3+
New Area = 25 so +%28x%2B3%29%28x%2B3%29=25+
+x%5E2%2B6x%2B9=25+
+x%5E2%2B6x-16=0+ (this is a quadratic ...)
+%28x%2B8%29%28x-2%29+ (... which factorises nicely)
so +x=-8+ or +x=2+
But x is the side of a rectangle, so +x+%3E0+
Hence, solution is x=2