SOLUTION: A rectangular garden is surrounded by a walk of uniform width. The area of the garden is 180 square yards. If the dimensions of the garden plus the walk are 16 yards by 24 yards,

Algebra ->  Polynomials-and-rational-expressions -> SOLUTION: A rectangular garden is surrounded by a walk of uniform width. The area of the garden is 180 square yards. If the dimensions of the garden plus the walk are 16 yards by 24 yards,      Log On


   

Question 1157783: A rectangular garden is surrounded by a walk of uniform width. The area of the
garden is 180 square yards. If the dimensions of the garden plus the walk are 16 yards by 24
yards, find the width of the walk.
Answer by josgarithmetic(39617) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Total area, 16%2A24 square yards.
x, the uniform width of the surrounding walk path

Just the garden's area:
%2816-2x%29%2824-2x%29=180
Solve this for x.

Simplifiable into %288-x%29%2812-x%29=45.
The two factors of 45 differ by 4, are 5 and 9;
highlight%28x=3%29.



You could also solve the quadratic equation, multiplying the two binomial factors and put into form ax^2+bx+c=0.