The area of a rectangular carpet is 10x²-3x-27. The length of the carpet is 5x -9 yards. Complete the statement to describe the width of the rectangle.

The width of the rectangle is
A) 2x + 3
B) 2x 3
C) 5x 3
D) 5x + 3

1 answer

To find the width of the rectangle, we can use the formula for the area of a rectangle, which is:

\[ \text{Area} = \text{Length} \times \text{Width} \]

In this case, the area of the carpet is given as \( 10x^2 - 3x - 27 \) and the length is given as \( 5x - 9 \). We can represent the width as \( W \).

Setting up the equation:

\[ 10x^2 - 3x - 27 = (5x - 9) \times W \]

We can find the width \( W \) by dividing the area by the length:

\[ W = \frac{10x^2 - 3x - 27}{5x - 9} \]

Now, we will perform polynomial long division.

  1. Divide the leading term of the numerator \( 10x^2 \) by the leading term of the denominator \( 5x \), which gives \( 2x \).
  2. Multiply \( 2x \) by \( 5x - 9 \): \[ 2x(5x - 9) = 10x^2 - 18x \]
  3. Subtract this from the original polynomial: \[ (10x^2 - 3x - 27) - (10x^2 - 18x) = 15x - 27 \]
  4. Now, divide the leading term of the new polynomial \( 15x \) by the leading term of the denominator \( 5x \), giving \( 3 \).
  5. Multiply \( 3 \) by \( 5x - 9 \): \[ 3(5x - 9) = 15x - 27 \]
  6. Subtract this: \[ (15x - 27) - (15x - 27) = 0 \]

The division indicates that:

\[ \frac{10x^2 - 3x - 27}{5x - 9} = 2x + 3 \]

Thus, the width of the rectangle is:

\[ \text{Width} = 2x + 3 \]

Therefore, the correct answer is:

A) 2x + 3.