The perimeter of a rectangle is 42ft. The length is 5ft longer than the width. Find the dimensions. Write a system of linear equations and solve the resulting system. Let x be the length and y be the width.
2x + 2y =
x=y + ?
what is the length ? ft

Question

anonymous · Answer

2x+2y is the perimeter.  2x+2y=42
the length is 5 greater than the width so x=y+5
We solve by multiplying the second equation by -2 and adding the two equations.

2x+2y=42
-2x+2y=-10
4y=32
y=8
x=13