SOLUTION: Mary is trying to put in a rectangular garden that is 5 feet longer than twice its width. She wants to have a sidewalk along two of the garden’s sides that is 3 feet wide. If the

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Question 1136535: Mary is trying to put in a rectangular garden that is 5 feet longer than twice its width. She wants to have a sidewalk along two of the garden’s sides that is 3 feet wide. If the area of the sidewalk will be 213 ft2 ,help Mary find the dimensions of her garden.
Answer by greenestamps(13198) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!


I will assume that the two side of the garden along which the sidewalk is to be put are two adjacent sides, rather than two opposite sides....

The width and length of the garden are x and 2x+5.

The lengths of the 3-foot-wide sidewalks are x and 2x+5 along those two sides.

And on the corner where the two sidewalks meet there will be a 3x3 square of sidewalk.

Then, since the total area of the sidewalk is 213 square feet,

3%28x%29%2B3%282x%2B5%29%2B3%283%29+=+213
3x+%2B+6x%2B15+%2B+9+=+213
9x+%2B+24+=+213
9x+=+189
x+=+21

The dimensions of her garden are x = 21 feet by (2x+5) = 47 feet.