Ellen is making rectangular bookmarks. Each bookmark has an area of 16 square inches, and the length is 6 inches more than the width. Find the length and width of her bookmarks.

Answer 1

Let x = width
Let x + 6 = length

Area of rectangle is just width x length. Thus,
A = w * l
16 = x(x+6)
16 = x^2 + 6x
x^2 + 6x - 16 = 0
Factor:
(x + 8)(x - 2) = 0
x = -8 (extraneous root since dimensions cannot be negative)
x = 2 inches (width)

x+6 = 8 inches (length)

hope this helps~ `u`