22. The Hewitt family plans to expand their square pool. Each side of the original pool will be increased by 4 meters, and the new total area of the pool will be 361 square meters. Find the length of each side of the original pool.

A. 16 meters
B. 15 meters
C. 19 meters
D. 12 meters

1 answer

A. 16 meters

Let x be the length of each side of the original pool.

The area of the original pool is x^2.

After increasing each side by 4 meters, the new area of the pool will be (x+4)^2.

Given that the new total area is 361 square meters, we have:

(x+4)^2 = 361

Expanding the left side:

x^2 + 8x + 16 = 361

Rearranging the equation:

x^2 + 8x - 345 = 0

Factoring the quadratic equation:

(x + 23)(x - 15) = 0

Setting each factor to 0:

x + 23 = 0 or x - 15 = 0

x = -23 (reject) or x = 15

Therefore, the length of each side of the original pool is 15 meters.