Question 1196090
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Cynthia Besch wants to buy a rug for a room that is 19 ft wide and 30 ft long. 
She wants to leave a uniform strip of floor around the rug. 
She can afford to buy 476 square feet of carpeting. 
What dimensions should the rug ​have?
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            The hint given by Alan needs to be presented in more precise and accurate form.



s = strip width
(19-2s)*(30-2s) = area of rug = 476
476 = 17*28


Get a quadratic equation for s.


Solve it by any way you want (use the quadratic formula or factoring).


After finding the strip width,  calculate the dimensions of the rug.



To see many other similar  (and different)  solved problems 

(including that about legendary Cynthia Besch),  look into the lessons


&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;- <A HREF=https://www.algebra.com/algebra/homework/Surface-area/Problems-on-the-area-of-a-rectangle-surrounded-by-a-strip.lesson>Problems on the area and the dimensions of a rectangle surrounded by a strip</A>

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;- <A HREF=https://www.algebra.com/algebra/homework/Surface-area/Cynthia-Besch-and-the-rug.lesson>Cynthia Besch wants to buy a rug for a room</A> 


in this site.