<PRE><B>Question 441698</B>
A portion of a wire 70 inches in length is bent to form a rectangle having the greatest possible area such that the length of the rectangle exceeds three times its width by 2 inches and the dimensions of the rectangle are whole numbers. Find the length of the wire that is NOT used to form the rectangle. 
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Let width be &quot;w&quot;.
Then length = &quot;3w+2&quot;
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Perimeter = 2(w+ 3w+2) = 70  inches
4w + 2 = 35
4w = 33
w is 8 if it has to be a whole number
3w+2 is 26 if it has to be a whole number.
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Length not used is 70-2(8+26) = 2 inches
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Cheers,
Stan H.
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