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Each side of the smaller square in the figure below is n inches long, and each side of the larger square is p inches longer than a side of the smaller square. The area of the larger square is how many square inches greater than the area of the smaller square?

Each side of the smaller square in the figure below is n inches long, and each side-example-1

1 Answer

6 votes

Answer:

(d) 2np +P²

Explanation:

The area of a square is the square of its side dimensions. The difference in area can be found by subtracting the smaller square's area from that of the larger square.

Area

For side length s, the area is ...

A = s²

Larger square:

(n +p)² = n² +2np +p²

Smaller square:

Difference in area

The large square is larger by ...

(n +p)² -n²

= n² +2np +p² -n²

= 2np +p² . . . . . . large square has greater area by this amount

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Additional comment

If you extend the sides of the white square, you see they divide the overall area into 4 parts. The white square has dimensions n×n. The upper left and lower right rectangles have dimensions n×p, so their total area is 2np. The upper right square has dimensions p×p, so its area is p².

The total blue area is 2np+p², the amount by which the large square's area exceeds that of the small (white) square.

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