Tasha is planning an expansion of a square flower garden in a city park. If each side of the original garden is increased by 7 m, the new total area of the garden will be 144 m². Find the length of each side of the original garden.

Question

(1 point)

a. 19 m

b. 12 m

c. 5 m

d. square root of five m

Answer 1

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

If each side of the original garden is increased by 7m, then the new length of each side is x + 7.

The new total area of the garden is then (x + 7)^2, which is given to be 144m².

So, (x + 7)^2 = 144.

Taking the square root of both sides, x + 7 = √144.

x + 7 = 12.

Subtracting 7 from both sides, x = 5.

Thus, the length of each side of the original garden is 5m.

Therefore, the correct answer is c. 5 m.