Question 1073175
You just had a pool installed that has dimensions 10 feet by 24 feet by 4 feet. You want to install a cement patio all the way around the pool that extends the same distance around every side of the pool.
 A cement truck holds enough cement to cover 810 square feet at a 4-inch depth. If you don't want to have to pay for a second truck, what is the widest you can make the patio around your new pool?
:
810 sq/ft will be the area of the cement walk-way all around the pool
let x =  the width of the walkway
then
the overall dimensions including the pool and the walkway will be
(2x+10) by (2x+24)
Overall area - pool area = walkway area
(2x+10)(2x+24)  - (10*24) = 810
FOIL
4x^2 + 48x + 20x + 240 - 240 - 810 = 0
a quadratic equation
4x^2 + 68x - 810 = 0
simplify, divide by 2
2x^2 + 34x - 405 = 0
use the quadratic formula. a=2; b=34; c=-405
I got a positive solution of
 x = 8.0756 ft or about 8' 1" is the width of the walk way