Question

The dimensions of a rectangle can be given by x+7 and x+2. If the area of the rectangle is 66 square inches, what are the dimensions of the rectangle?

Answer 1

to solve  for the dimensions (x+7)(x+2)=66,

we can first use the foiling method to simplify the left side.

x^2 + 2x + 7x + 14 = 66

x^2 + 9x + 14 = 66

now, subtract 66 from both sides.

x^2 + 9x - 52 = 0

now, split this into two parentheses.

(x + 13)(x - 4)

since the root of -13 would give you negative values, x=4. This means that the dimensions of the rectangle are 11 and 6.