You want to find factors of 63 that differ by 2. .. 63 = 1*63 = 3*21 = 7*9
The last pair of factors differ by 2, so your dimensions are .. length: 9 feet .. width: 7 feet
_____ If you want to write an equation, you can let w represent the width. Then the area is .. A = width*length .. 63 = w*(w +2) .. w^2 +2w -63 = 0 To factor this, you need to find two factors of -63 that add to +2. -7 and +9 are those factors (see above). .. (w -7)(w +9) = 0 .. w = 7 or -9 . . . . . . . only the positive solution is of interest width = 7 feet length = 9 feet
___ You could let x represent the average of length and width. Then your equation for area is .. A = width*length .. 63 = (x -1)(x +1) = x^2 -1 .. 64 = x^2 .. 8 = x The width is 8-1 = 7; the length is 8+1 = 9. (Both dimensions have units of feet.)
