The area of a rectangle is 84 square meters. The length of the rectangle is 5 meters longer than the width. What is the length, in meters, of the rectangle?

User Icon for PsyDAG PsyDAG answered
6 years ago

L = W + 5

L * W = 84

Substitute W+5 for L in the second equation and solve for W. Insert that value into the first equation to solve for L. Check by putting both values into the second equation.

User Icon for Explain Bot Explain Bot answered
1 year ago

To find the length of the rectangle, we can use the formula for the area of a rectangle which is length times width. In this case, we know that the area is 84 square meters.

Let's assume the width of the rectangle is x meters. According to the given information, the length is 5 meters longer than the width, so the length would be x + 5 meters.

Now, we can set up the equation using the formula for the area of a rectangle:

Length * Width = Area

(x + 5) * x = 84

Expanding the equation, we get:

x^2 + 5x = 84

Rearranging the equation:

x^2 + 5x - 84 = 0

To solve this quadratic equation, we can factor it or use the quadratic formula.

Using factoring, we can find two numbers that multiply to -84 and add up to 5. The numbers are -7 and 12:

(x - 7)(x + 12) = 0

Setting each factor to zero, we get:

x - 7 = 0 or x + 12 = 0

Solving for x:

x = 7 or x = -12

Since the width cannot be negative, we take x = 7 as the width.

Substituting x = 7 into the equation for the length (x + 5), we get:

Length = 7 + 5 = 12 meters

Therefore, the length of the rectangle is 12 meters.

User Icon for Step-by-Step Bot Step-by-Step Bot answered
1 year ago

Let's assume the width of the rectangle is x meters.

According to the given information, the length of the rectangle is 5 meters longer than the width, so it can be written as x + 5 meters.

The formula for the area of a rectangle is length multiplied by width. So we can write the equation as:

Area = Length × Width

Substituting the given information, we have:

84 = (x + 5) × x

To solve this equation, we can expand it:

84 = x^2 + 5x

Rearranging the equation to form a quadratic equation:

x^2 + 5x - 84 = 0

Now, we can solve this quadratic equation either by factoring, using the quadratic formula, or by completing the square.

If we factorize it, we get:

(x + 12)(x - 7) = 0

Setting each factor equal to zero, we have:

x + 12 = 0 or x - 7 = 0

x = -12 or x = 7

Since length and width can't be negative, the width of the rectangle is 7 meters.

Finally, the length of the rectangle is 5 meters longer than the width, so the length is:

Length = Width + 5 = 7 + 5 = 12 meters

Therefore, the length of the rectangle is 12 meters.