SOLUTION: a room has a floor area of 520 square feet. one dimension is 6 feet more than the other. Find the dimensions of the room. i know that the formula is a=lw would i do as i would

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Question 83263: a room has a floor area of 520 square feet. one dimension is 6 feet more than the other. Find the dimensions of the room.
i know that the formula is a=lw would i do as i would a equation im not sure can you please help understand

thank you
jenzbears
Found 2 solutions by Mona27, ptaylor:
Answer by Mona27(45) (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Well it's a good thing you know the rule. Now all you need to do is find out what to put in the rule:
If one of the dimensions is called x, then the other must be 6 feet more than x, in other words, x+6.
And so
l=x+6
w=x
Multiplying those together we get 520

Giving
x=-26 or x=20
Of course the first answer is rejected, meaning the width would be 20 feet and the length is 26 feet.

Answer by ptaylor(2198) (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!

YOU ARE RIGHT!!! A=LW=520 SQ FT
Let length=L
Now we are told the the one dimension (width) is 6 feet more than the other (length). So:
Width would=L+6 so our equation to solve is:
520=L(L+6) get rid of parens
520=L^2+6L subtract 520 from both sides
520-520=L^2+6L-520 collect like terms
L^2+6L-520=0 quadratic in standard form where A=1, B=6 and C=-520. By inspection, we can see that this quadratic can be factored. The factors are:
(L+26)(L-20)=0
L=-26ft--------------------------discount negative lengths
L=20 ft-------------------------------Length
L+6=20+6=26ft--------------------------Width
CK
20*26=520
520=520
Note: If the A coefficient of a quadratic is 1, then the B coefficient is the sum of the factors of the C coefficient.

Hope this helps---ptaylor