Question

The area of a rectangle is 72 cm². The length of the rectangle is 6 cm longer than the width.

What is the width of the rectangle?

2 cm
6 cm
8 cm
10 cm

Answer 1

Hello @hallm

Answer 2

hey @Shadow

Answer 3

Do you have an idea where you might start in order to solve this problem?

Answer 4

no sir im reallt confused

Answer 5

Do you know the formula for the area of a rectangle?

Answer 6

umm length time width right?

Answer 7

Yes

Answer 8

Write out the formula for me

Answer 9

wouldnt it be 72 times 72 because of the squared sign and then divide it by 6 maybe....?

Answer 10

wouldnt it be you times 72 by 72 because of the squared then divide it by 6 maybe...?

Answer 11

The cm^2 just means that they are square centimeters since we’re dealing with a 2 D object. So it is 72 two by two centimeter squares.

Answer 12

It will make more sense when we go through the math.

The formula for the area of a rectangle is:

A = length times width
A = l * w

Answer 13

They have given us two pieces of information.

The area is 72cm^2 and the length is 6 cm longer than the width. The first bit of information is easy to account for.

72 = l * w

But what about the second? Well if the length is 6 cm longer than the width then we should be able to represent it was

l= w + 6

Answer 14

This is crucial as this means we can substitute w + 6 in for l, meaning we only have one variable. Thus we can solve for w.

72 = (w + 6) * w

Do you know what to do from here?

Answer 15

then you divide both 6 by 6and 72 by 6?

Answer 16

Well things will get a bit messy if we do it that way. What’s more easier?

Answer 17

hmm well maybe umm i dont know im still confused

Answer 18

i feel kinda dumb for not knowing this

Answer 19

Well we all didn’t know how to do this until we found out, so don’t feel bad

Answer 20

yes sir maybe we can do the pemdas method and umm then divide?

Answer 21

Try the distributive property.

Answer 22

ok

Answer 23

i got 6

Answer 24

Correct

Answer 25

You can check your work by submitting the value you got for w back into l = w + 6 then seeing if the length and width values come out to 72.

Answer 26

thank you so much you have really helped me

Answer 27

No problem, glad I could help.

Answer 28

what grade are you in ?

Answer 29

Freshman in college

Answer 30

wooowww thats so cool

Answer 31

what do you study

Answer 32

My majors are psychology and political science.

Answer 33

wow that seems really hard im just a freshman in highschool

Answer 34

They are social sciences so they are a bit on the easier side on the spectrum of all possible majors but they do get increasingly more difficult. I found out what I wanted to major in through classes and teachers I had in high school as well as extracurricular. So I would highly encourage you to explore your interests, talk to teachers if you find something interesting, and always check out what sports/clubs are going on. You may never know what you’ll find that you may enjoy.

Answer 35

well school isnt going as well as i would have planed it is honestly really hard

Answer 36

Well whenever it does get difficult, just be sure to always ask for help. Being honest that you can’t accomplish something doesn’t mean that you are dumb, it means that you are wise. By choosing to seek out help you can learn how to do a concept and this become more knowledgeable.

Answer 37

thank you