Question

Michael Gomski must build a rectangular storage shed. He wants the length to be 6ft greater than the width, and the perimeter will be 44ft. Find the length and the width of the shed.

Answer 1

First, let the variable L be equal to the length.
Second let the variable W be equal to the width.

The relationship between L and W is that L is 6 greater than W. If we write this mathematically we get:
L=W+6

Now the formula for perimeter is just to add the lengths of all four sides. Since this is a rectangle, and two sides are the same we can write this mathematically as:
2L+2W = Perimeter

Interestingly, we can use the equation we figured out at the start to find the relationship between length and width. By substituting W+6 for each L in the perimeter equation, we can easily solve for the width.

2W+2L=44
2W+2(W+6)=44
2W+2W+12=44
4W=44-12
4W=32
W=32/4
W=8

Now, put W back into the perimeter equation and solve for L.