Question

a wire is first bent into the shape of a square. each side of the square is 5 inches long. then the wire is unbent and reshaped into a rectangle. if the length of the rectangle is 6 inches, then what is the width?

Answer 1

A square has all it sides equal. Each side is equals to 5 inches .

total length of the square = 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 = 20 inches

The newly formed rectangle has the same perimeter as the square. Therefore,

perimeter = 20 inches

length = 6 inches

width ?

`\begin{gathered} \text{perimeter =}2(l+w) \\ 20=2(6+w) \\ 20=12+2w \\ 20-12=2w \\ 8=2w \\ w=(8)/(2) \\ w=4\text{ inches} \end{gathered}`

width = 4 inches