Question

When the length of a rectangle with a width of 1/6 foot was increased by 2/3 foot, the area of the rectangle became 11/72 square feet. Find the original length of the rectangle. Explain your reasoning.

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Answer 1

1/4 is the original length

Explanation:

The original length of the rectangle is 11/72 square feet. To get the area of a rectangle, you multiply the length x width.

You already know the width in this problem. The width is 1/6 feet. So, divide the area (11/72 feet) by the width (1/6 feet) to get the length, 11/12 feet.

However, the original length was increased by 2/3 feet. So, take our new length (11/12 feet) and subtract the increased length (2/3 feet) from it. When you do that, you get 1/4 feet.

Therefore, the answer is 1/4 feet. Hope this helps! :)