SOLUTION: On a page of math homework, it says to give the lengths and widths of 2 rectangles with an area of 20ft. with the little two at the top. i think it means squared. But i dont unders

Algebra ->  Rectangles -> SOLUTION: On a page of math homework, it says to give the lengths and widths of 2 rectangles with an area of 20ft. with the little two at the top. i think it means squared. But i dont unders      Log On


   

Question 262369: On a page of math homework, it says to give the lengths and widths of 2 rectangles with an area of 20ft. with the little two at the top. i think it means squared. But i dont understand it because its not very specific. Can you please help me with the answer?
Answer by solver91311(24713) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!


Yes, it means squared. Squared means that something was multiplied by itself. When you calculate the area of a rectangle, you multiply the measure of the length times the measure of the width. In order to get a meaningful result of your calculation, those measurements must be in the same units. In the case of your problem, the units are feet. So when you multiply the length expressed in some number of feet times the width in some number of feet, you are not only multiplying the numerical values but also the unit designators, i.e. feet times feet which is feet squared. That is represented by

Now, your problem is to find two numbers that when multiplied together equal 20, for example 4 and 5. Then you can say that the width is 4 feet and the length is 5 feet, so the area is 4 feet times 5 feet which is 20 feet squared. That would be written:

Next you need to come up with a different pair of numbers whose product is 20. I'll leave that to you.

John