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Question 386932: The perimeter of a rectangular writing pad is 48cm. The width is 8 cm less than the length. find the length and width
Answer by gwendolyn(128)   (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! Perimeters of rectangles are found by adding twice the width and twice the height. Therefore, the formula can be written as an equation:
let P=the rectangle's perimeter
let W=the rectangle's width
let L=the rectangle's length
2W+2L=P
We know that the perimeter of the writing pad is 48 cm, so this can be substituted into the equation:
2W+2L=48
The problem also states that the width is 8 cm less than the length. This can be expressed as an equation as well:
W=L-8
The new equation for W can be substituted into the first equation:
2W+2L=48
2(L-8)+2L=48
We can then distribute the 2 over the first set of parentheses:
2L-16+2L=48
Next, we can combine the terms containing variables:
4L-16=48
Then, we can add 16 to both sides of the equation:
4L=64
Finally, we can divide both sides by 4 to isolate the variable.
L=16
So, the length is 16.
According to the second equation we found, the width is the length minus 8.
16 minus 8 is 8.
So, the length is 16 and the width is 8.
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