Question

The length of a rectangular floor is 2 feet more than its width. The area of the floor is 168 square feet. Kim wants to use a rug in the middle of the room and leave a 2-foot border of the floor visible on all sides. What should the width (the shorter side) of the rug be?

Answer 1

Let width of the floor be x feet, them area is
x(x+2)  = 168
x^2 + 2x - 168 = 0
(x - 12)(x + 14) - 0
so x = 12
the floor is 12 ft by 10 ft

the width of the rug should be 10 - 2(2) = 6 feet