You are building a frame for a photograph that is 8 inches by 11 inches. The width of the frame must be uniform around the picture and you have 42 square inches of wood to use. What is the width of the frame?

Answer 1

photo area = 88 in^2

outside dimension = 8+2x by 11+2x
so we want
(2x+8)(2x+11) - 88 = 42

4 x^2 + 38 x - 42 = 0

2 x^2 + 19 x - 21 = 0

(2x + 21)(x-1) = 0

x = 1 inch