Question

In order to double the carpeted area in an office lobby, a decorator adds a strip of carpet on all 4 sides of a 4 yd by 6 yd rectangle that is now carpeted. How wide is the strip?

Answer 1

The current carpeted area is 4x6 = 24 square yards.

The area doubled will be 24*2 = 48 square yards.

The original length is 2 more than the width; assuming the added strip is of uniform width, the new length still has to be 2 more than the width. Two numbers that differ by 2 and have a product of 48 are 6 and 8. So the new overall dimensions are 6x8 yards.

Since the length and width have each increased by 2 yards, and the added carpet is on all four sides, the width of the strip is 1 yard

Explanation:

Hope this helps

Answer 2

Well the beginning carpeted area is 24ft^2 that means that the desired carpeted area is 48ft^2. What two numbers multiplied together make 48? 4x12, 6x8, 16x3, 24x2, etc. 6x8 meets our requirements though because you could get these measurements by adding 1ft to each side of the carpet amounting to 6ftx8ft. Depending on which side they consider to be width, it is going to be either 6 or 8ft