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The length of a rectangle is 11 units more than its width. The perimeter of the

rectangle is 182 units. Solve for the dimensions of the rectangle. What is the
area of the rectangle?

User Betsy
by
3.1k points

1 Answer

7 votes

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Answer:

  • width: 40 units
  • length: 51 units
  • area: 2040 square units

Explanation:

Let w represent the width of the rectangle. Then w+11 is the length. The perimeter is given by ...

P = 2(L +W)

182 = 2((w+11) +w)

182 = 4w +22 . . . . . simplify

160 = 4w . . . . . . . . . subtract 22

40 = w . . . . . . . . . . . divide by 4

40 +11 = length = 51 . . . . determine length

The dimensions of the rectangle are 40 × 51 units.

__

The area of the rectangle is ...

A = LW

A = (51)(40) = 2040 . . . . square units

The area is 2040 square units.

_____

Additional comment

The perimeter of a rectangle is double the sum of length and width, so that sum is 182/2 = 91 units. Now, this is a "sum and difference" problem, where the sum of length and width is 91, and the difference is 11. The solutions to such a problem are half the sum and half the difference of these numbers. Above, we found the smaller dimension (width) first: (91-11)/2 = 40. We could have found the length as (91+11)/2 = 51. The knowledge of the general solution to "sum and difference" problems often lets you work them with mental arithmetic.

User Alifirat
by
3.0k points