<PRE><B>Question 305672</B>
what are original dimensions- The length of a rectangle is three times its width. If the width were increased by 4 and the length remained the same, the resulting rectangle would have an area of 231 square inches. Find the demensions of the ORIGINAL rectangle.


let the width be  x

length will be 3x

width increased by 4 = x+4 


Length = 3x

3x(x+4)= 231

3x^2 + 12x =231

3x^2 +12x-231=0

3(x^2+4x-77) =0

3(x+11)(x-7)=0

x=-11 OR x =7

the width cannot be negative 

so width = 7

length = 3x = 3*7 =21

7 by 21 are the dimensions of the original rectangle</PRE>