Answer:
The width is 4 units, and the length is 10 units.
Explanation:
area of rectangle = length * width
Let L = length; let W = width.
"The length is 6 units greater than the width.": L = W + 6
area = LW = 40
Since L = W + 6, we substitute L with W + 6.
(W + 6)W = 40
W^2 + 6W = 40
W^2 + 6W - 40 = 0
(W - 4)(W + 10) = 0
W - 4 = 0 or W + 10 = 0
W = 4 or W = -10
A width cannot be a negative number, so we discard the solution W = -10.
W = 4
L = W + 6 = 4 + 6 = 10
The width is 4 units, and the length is 10 units.