SOLUTION: A corner lot that originally was square lost 185 m squared of area when one of the adjacent streets was widened by 3m and the other was widened by 5 m. Find the new dimensions of

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Question 391608: A corner lot that originally was square lost 185 m squared of area when one of the adjacent streets was widened by 3m and the other was widened by 5 m. Find the new dimensions of the lot. HINT let x = the length of a side of the original square lot.
Answer by ankor@dixie-net.com(22740) About Me  (Show Source):
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A corner lot that originally was square lost 185 m squared of area when one of the adjacent streets was widened by 3m and the other was widened by 5 m. Find the new dimensions of the lot. HINT let x = the length of a side of the original square lot.
:
Let one of the new dimensions = (x-3)
Let the other new dimension = (x-5)
:
The original area = x^2
the new area = (x^2-185)
:
we have the new area equation
(x-3)*(x-5) = x^2 - 185
FOIL the left side
x^2 - 5x - 3x + 15 = x^2 - 185
combine like terms
x^2 - x^2 - 8x = -185 - 15
-8x = -200
x = %28-200%29%2F%28-8%29
x = +25 the original length of the side of the square
:
The new dimensions
25 - 3 = 22m is the new width
25 - 5 = 20m is the new length
:
:
see if this is true by finding the difference in area
25^2 - (22*20) =
625 - 440 = 185, confirms our solutions