Tessa designs a supply closet as an addition to her house. The closet is pictured, and its total area is 36 square feet. What is the length in feet of the side of the supply closet labeled with a question mark?

House?:
length: 3ft
width: 8ft
Closet:
Width: 2ft
Length: ??

1 answer

To find the length of the side of the supply closet labeled with a question mark, we can use the formula for the area of a rectangle, which is:

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

We know the total area of the closet is 36 square feet, and the width is 2 feet. Let \( L \) be the length of the closet. We can set up the equation:

\[ 36 = L \times 2 \]

To find \( L \), divide both sides of the equation by 2:

\[ L = \frac{36}{2} = 18 \]

Therefore, the length of the side of the supply closet labeled with a question mark is

\[ \boxed{18} \text{ feet.} \]