Question

The width of a rectangle is 4 units more than the length. If the area is 12 square units, then find the dimensions of the rectangle.

Answer 1

Answer: length = 2 , width = 6

Explanation:

The formula for calculating the area of a rectangle is given by :

Area = length x width

Let the length of the rectangle be x , since the width is 4 units more than the length , this means that the width is x + 4

substituting into the formula for calculating area , we have

12 = x ( x + 4)

12 =
`x^(2)` +
`4x`

Therefore :

`x^(2) + 4x - 12` = 0

factorizing, we have

`(x+6)(x-2)` = 0

Therefore :

either
`(x+6)= 0` or
`(x - 2) = 0`

This means that
`x = -6` or
`x = 2`

Since the length can not be negative , this means that the length = 2

and the width = 4 + 2 = 6