Answer:
29119.66666...+14561.3333...=43681, 209ft^2, not square feet.
Explanation:
"One side of a rectangle is 3 feet shorter than twice the other side find the sides if the area is 209 feet squared"
Ok, so this is a tricky one- 209 feet squared, not 209 square feet, therefore the area is 209^2, or 43,681.
Next, let's define our variables-
x= the "other side"
z= 3 feet shorter than twice side
We can now make these (useful) equations
z=2x-3
43681= (2x-3)+x
We will focus on the latter for now-
Simplify
43681= (2x-3)+x
43681= 2x-3+x
43681= 3x-3
+3
43684=3x
/3
14561.3333...=x
z=2x-3
z=2*(14561.3333)-3
z=29119.66666....
29119.66666...+14561.3333...=43681