The original are would be 48.
Since we know that the length and width are two consecutive even integers, we can model them as follows:
Width = x
Length = x + 2
This works because no matter what even number is put in for x, the length will also be even.
Now we know if we subtract 3 from the width, we have a new rectangle that gives us an area of 24 inches. Therefore, our new triangle has the following:
Width: x - 3
Length: x + 2
Area: 24
And we can plug this into the equation.
Length* Width = Area
(x + 2)(x - 3) = 24
x^2 - x - 6 = 24
x^2 - x - 30 = 0
This is not a quadratic that we can factor to show the following:
(x - 6)(x + 5) = 0
This gives us the answers of x = 6 and x = -5. Since a side can't be negative, we throw out the x = -5 and the answer is x = 6.
So if we go back to the original rectangle, we know:
Width = x = 6
Length = x + 2 = 8
Area = 6*8 = 48
