John made a rectangle pen for his dog using 28 feet of fencing. If the width of the pen is 2 feet more than one-half the length, what is the length and width of the pen?
The length of the pen is

Question

John made a rectangle pen for his dog using 28 feet of fencing. If the width of the pen is 2 feet more than one-half the length, what is the length and width of the pen?
The length of the pen is

imstuck · Answer

Ok, in order to do this we have to take step by step the info they gave us and decide what we have and then what we need to do with it.  First of all, if they are telling you that John used 28 feet of fence, that measurement is around the outside of the pen, which is the perimeter.  The formula for perimeter for a rectangle is P = 2L + 2W.  Then they told you that the width of the pen is 2 feet more than one-half the length, which can be translated into an equality.  To find the length and the width we need to create an equation in one variable and solve for that variable and then sub that back in to our equation and find the other variable.  Do you think you can translate "the width of the pen in 2 feet more than one-half the length" into an equality statement?  Meaning if W = width, what is the length of the pen in terms of width.