Question

You are planning a rectangular patio with length that is 7 ft less than three times its width. The area of the patio is 120 ft^2. What are the dimensions of the patio?

I just need to figure out what equation to write from this. I'm thinking something along the lines of 3x^2-7=120 (from (3x-7)(x)=120).

If it is, then I would solve it like this:

3x^2-7x=120
(3x^2-7x)/3=120/3
x^2-2.33x=40
x^2-2.33x+1.36=20+1.36
(x-1.16)^2=(plus or minus the square root of)41.16
x-1.16~(plus or minus)6.42
x-1.16~6.42 OR x-1.16~-6.42
x~7.58 OR x~-5.26

Am I right?

Answer 1

Well, I doubt that -5.26 is a solution, but you can easily check that 7.58 works just fine.

Don't you check your answers when you get them?