Final answer:
Using the formula for the perimeter of a rectangle, we set up an equation with the width as a variable and solved it to find that the width of the porch is 9 feet.
Step-by-step explanation:
To determine the width of Joseph's front porch we will use the given information that the length is 8 feet more than the width and the perimeter is 52 feet. We know that the perimeter of a rectangle is calculated by the formula P = 2l + 2w, where l is the length and w is the width.
Let's represent the width of the porch as w feet. According to the problem, the length will then be w + 8 feet. So we can write the equation for the perimeter as:
52 = 2(w + 8) + 2w
To find w, we first multiply out the terms inside the parenthesis and combine like terms:
52 = 2w + 16 + 2w
52 = 4w + 16
Then we subtract 16 from both sides:
52 - 16 = 4w
36 = 4w
Finally, we divide both sides by 4:
36 / 4 = w
9 = w
Therefore, the width of the porch is 9 feet, which corresponds to option A.