Question

The sides of a square are all increased by 3 cm. The area of the new square s 64 cm^2. How can you find the length of a side of the original square?

Answer 1

Since the formula for the a\area of a square is "Area=(side)^2", all the sides are equal. So just substitute in.

s^2=64
s=sqrootof64
side=8

8-3=5

so the original side length is 5 cm.

Answer 2

The area of a square is the two sides multiplied together.

Since all sides of a square are the same, you need to find the square root of 64.

When you find that, subtract 3 cm from it to answer your question.

Answer 3

the ways above is probably easier, but my teacher probably wants me to solve it by factoring..