Question

A square placemat has a gold square in the center with a red border around the

square. The side length of the gold square is (x - 2) inches and the width of the
red border is 3 inches. What is the area of the red part of the placemat? The
area of a square is A = w x h. Show your work.

Answer 1

x² - 4x - 5

Explanation:

Recall:

Area of a square = s² ; where s = side length

Side length of gold square = (x - 2)

Width = Side length of red = 3 inches

Area of the red part :

Area of gold part - Area of red part

(x - 2)² - 3²

(x - 2)(x - 2)

x² - 2x - 2x + 4 - 9

x² - 4x + 4 -9

x² - 4x - 5

Hence, area of red part is : x² - 4x - 5