+17 The area of a rectangle sheet of steel is 35m^2. If the width is 2 metres shorter than the length, use factorisation to find the 2 dimensions.
appreciate the help
+33616 Let the width be w, so the length is w+2 and the area is w*(w+2).
Hence we have:
w(w+2) = 35
Subtract 35 from both sides:
w(w+2) - 35 = 0
Distribute the w over the (w + 2)
w2 + 2w - 35 = 0
This can be factored as:
(w + 7)(w - 5) = 0
So either w = -7 or w = 5. But we can't have a negative width of sheet steel, so the width = 5m, which means that the length = (5 + 2)m = 7m.
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+33616 Let the width be w, so the length is w+2 and the area is w*(w+2).
Hence we have:
w(w+2) = 35
Subtract 35 from both sides:
w(w+2) - 35 = 0
Distribute the w over the (w + 2)
w2 + 2w - 35 = 0
This can be factored as:
(w + 7)(w - 5) = 0
So either w = -7 or w = 5. But we can't have a negative width of sheet steel, so the width = 5m, which means that the length = (5 + 2)m = 7m.
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