The seats in a theater are arranged in parallel rows that form a rectangular region. The number in each row is 16 fewer than the number of rows. How many seats are in each row of 1161 -seat theater?

Answer 1

S = # of seats per row
R = # of rows
S = R - 16
S*R = R * (R-16) = 1161
R^2 - 16R - 1161 = 0
1161 is the product of 43 and 27. The equation factors to
(R - 43)(R + 27) = 0
R = 43 is the only positive answer for the number of rows. There are
S = R - 16 = 27 seats per row.