The length of a rectangle is 6 m less than twice its width. The area of the rectangle is 140 m^2. What is the length of the shorter side of the rectangle?

Question

anonymous · Answer

The width = x
The length - 2x - 6
Area = length * width
140 = x(2x-6)
140 = 2x^2 - 6x
0 = 2x^2 - 6x - 140
0 = 2(x^2 - 3x - 70)
0 = 2(x - 10)(x + 7)
x = 10 or -7

Width = 10
Length = 2(10) - 6  = 14

The shortest side is the width which is 10