Question

You may remember that the perimeter of a rectangle is P = 2(W+ L) where W is the width and L is the length.

Suppose that the perimeter of a rectangle is 56 feet, and the length is 4 feet more than the width. Find the width of the
rectangle, in feet.

Answer 1

12

Explanation:

If the perimeter is 56, then 2(W+L) = 56.

If the length is 4 more than the width, then we can write the length as

Width+4 = L or W+4=L

Now, we can plug this back into the equation of 2(W+L)= 56

2(W+(W+4)) = 56

2(2w+4) = 56

4w+8=56

Minus 8 on both sides of the equation

4w = 48

divide both sides by 4

w = 12