Question

A rectangle's length and width are in a ratio of 20:3. The area is 240 square centimeters. What are the length and width?

Answer 1

Answer: Length - 40 cm, Width - 6cm

Explanation:

Let the length of the rectangle = 20x.

Then, the width of the rectangle must = 3x by the ratio given.

The area of a rectangle is the length*width, which we are given as 240.

Therefore, 20x*3x = 240

We can combine like terms:

60x^2 = 240

Divide both sides by 60:

x^2 = 4

Square root both sides:

x = ± 2.

Since the sides of a rectangle cannot be negative, x must equal to 2.

The length of the rectangle is 20x, which is 20*2 = 40.

The width of the rectangle is 3x, which is 3*2 = 6.