The area of a square, in square units, is 38 more than 10 times the length of a side of the square, in units. Find all possible values for the side length of the square.
Call the side, s
s^2 = 10s + 38
s^2 - 10s = 38
s^2 -10s + 25 = 38 + 25
(s - 5)^2 = 63 take both roots
s - 5 = sqrt (63) s - 5 = -sqrt (63)
s = 5 + sqrt (63) s = -5 -sqrt (63) reject
s ≈ 12.94