Mr. Lomas has a golf poster that is 10 inches longer than it is wide. It is mounted in an exquisite artificial plastic frame with a uniform width of two inches. If the area of the frame is 224 square inches, what is the length of his poster?
+128474 Let the width of the poster = W
Let the length = W + 10
We have that
( W + 4 ) ( W + 10 + 4) = 224 simplify
(W + 4) ( W + 14) = 224
W^2 + 18W + 56 = 224
W^2 + 18W - 168 = 0 complete the square
W^2 + 18W + 81 = 168 + 81
(W + 9(^2 = 249 take the positive root
W + 9 = sqrt (249)
W = sqrt (249) - 9
L= sqrt (249) - 9 + 10 = sqrt (249) + 1 ≈ 16.8 in
