SOLUTION: A landscaper wants to enclose a 90 ft by 120 ft rectangle with a walk of uniform width. He wants to use a supply of crushed rock that will cover 1744 square feet of walk. How wide

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Question 205700: A landscaper wants to enclose a 90 ft by 120 ft rectangle with a walk of uniform width. He wants to use a supply of crushed rock that will cover 1744 square feet of walk. How wide should he make the walk?
I am just having a real problem setting up this problem. I cant seem to wrap my mind around how to set it up. I know how to do the math involved if I can just have help with the set up.
Answer by Targetweek(62) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
First find the area of the rectangle to be enclosed
then increase the dimensions of the rectangle by 1 foot on all sides (in other words increase it to 92x122)
Next find the area of the new larger rectangle and then subract the area of the original rectangle from it
That's how many square feet a 1ft wide sidewalk will require
But to find exactly how wide to make it i would set it up algebraicly
like so...
%28x%2B90%29%28x%2B120%29+-+10800+=+1744
Simplify down to a ax%5E2%2Bbx%2Bc+=+0 form
Then Graph and and find solutions (the x-intercepts) or try to factor and solve that way or even the quadratic formula
hope that helped!