ANSWER: L=13; W=9
--Please read this explanation and this will be much easier for you, it took time to type..
Set up variables first. I will lead through how to get the answer.
First get variables. So, what is Perimeter? Perimeter is like so:
P = 2L + 2W = 44ft
Now instead of using P, we'll continue with
2L + 2W = 44 because this can be used to help answer the question better than P.
"Length of the patio is 5 ft less than twice the width"
So it says "length of the patio", so we put
L =
"5 ft less than twice the width"
L = 2W - 5
Now we know what L is, and we can plug this in to our first equation!
2L + 2W = 44
L = 2W - 5
Multiply by 2...
2L = 4W - 10
Plug in...
4W - 10 (2L see?) + 2W = 44
Rearrange...
4W + 2W - 10 = 44
And solve...
=6W - 10 = 44
=6W = 44 + 10
=6W = 54
=6W/6 = 54/6
=W = 9
Now we have W. Plug this into our other equation.
L = 2W - 5
L = 2*9 - 5
L = 18 - 5
L = 13
The length of the patio is 13 ft and the width of the patio is 9 ft.