A rectangular piece of sheet metal is 10 m long and 5 m wide. If the area doubles when the length and the width is increased by the same unit of length, what are the new measurements?

Answer 1

Let's call the increased length and width x.

If the area doubles, then the new area is 2 times the original area, or 2(10)(5) = 100 square meters.

Set up an equation to represent the new area:
(x)(x) = 100

Solve for x:
x^2 = 100
x = 10

So the new length is 10 m + 10 m = <<10+10=20>>20 m and the new width is 5 m + 10 m = <<5+10=15>>15 m.