Question

The area of a rectangle is

50 yd2
, and the length of the rectangle is
5 yd
less than three times the width. Find the dimensions of the rectangle.

Answer 1

Area = length x width
length = 3 x width - 5

i.e. 50 = w(3w - 5)
3w^2 - 5w - 50 = 0
(3w + 10)(w - 5) = 0
w = -10/3 or w = 5
but width cannot be negative, hence
width = 5 yd
Length = 3 x 5 - 5 = 15 - 5 = 10 yd