Question

The perimeter of a rectangle is 60. The length is twice the width. Find the length and width.

Answer 1

Step-by-step explanation: Our first task in this problem is to setup variables representing length and width and we do that by using the second sentence.

The length is twice the width

So if we call our width x, that means that our length is 2 times x or 2x

Width of the rectangle ⇒ x

Length of the rectangle ⇒ 2x

Before moving on, go ahead and draw a picture of your

rectangle so that you can visualize what's going on.

I have done this for you below.

We label our widths x and our lengths 2x.

Now we can use the first sentence to setup our equation.

The perimeter of a rectangle is the distance

around the outside of the figure.

So if our perimeter is 60, that means that x + x + 2x + 2x = 60.

Simplifying by combining like terms, we get 6x = 60.

Now dividing both sides by 6, we find that x = 10.

Since x represents width, our width is 10.

Our length therefore with be 2(10) or 20.

So our width is 10 and our length is 20.