Question

The length of a rectangle is 5 more than the width. The area is 500 square feet. Find the length and width of the rectangle.

Answer 1

length = 25ft, width = 20ft

Explanation:

Let x= width, so length = x+5

Area = l x w so A = x(x+5)

Since the area is given as 500 sqft, your equation is x(x+5)=500.

Although the numbers are easy enough to factor in your head, mathematically the equation can be solved as a quadratic, as follows:

x^2 + 5x -500 = 0

Using either factoring or quadratic formula, x = 20 (the other value is negative). Therefore the width is 20ft and the length is 25ft.