The area of a rectangle is 72 cm square. The length of the rectangle is 6 cm longer than the width. What is the width of the rectangle? A 2 cm B 6 cmC 8 cmD 10 cm

Question

asked Dec 2, 2019 198k views

1 Answer

Dan Vulpe · Answer 1 · 2019-12-07T16:57:47+0000

The correct option will be : B) 6 cm.

Step-by-step explanation

Suppose, the width of the rectangle is
cm.

As, the length is 6 cm longer than the width, so the length will be:
(x+6) cm.

Formula for the Area of rectangle is:
(Length)*(Width)

Given that, the area of a rectangle is 72 cm²

So....

$x(x+6)=72\\ \\ x^2+6x-72=0\\ \\ (x+12)(x-6)=0$

Using zero-product property, we will get...

$x+12=0\\ x= -12$ (Negative value is ignored as width can't be negative)

and

$x-6=0\\ x=6$

So, the width of the rectangle is 6 cm.