Question

The perimeter of a football field is 1040 feet. The length of the field is 120 feet less than 3 times the width. What are the dimensions of the field?

Answer 1

• length: 360 ft
• width: 160 ft

Explanation:

The perimeter formula and the given relation between length and width can be used to write and solve an equation for the field dimensions.

Setup

Let w represent the width of the field. Then (3w-120) is the length of the field, and its perimeter is ...

P = 2(L +W)

1040 = 2((3w-120) +w)

Solution

Dividing by 2 and simplifying, we have ...

520 = 4w -120

130 = w -30 . . . . . . divide by 4

160 = w . . . . . . . . . add 30

3w-120 = 3(160) -120 = 360 . . . the field's length

The dimensions of the field are 160 feet long by 360 feet wide.