Question

a rectangular photograph is mounted on a square piece of cardboard whose side have length x. The border that surrounds the photo is 3 inches on each side and 4 inches on both the top and bottom. Which of the following expressions represents the area of the photograph?

Answer 1

Given:
2 shapes:
Square cardboard
Rectangular photograph

The sides of the cardboard have a length of x.

The rectangular photograph has a border that surrounds it. 3 inches on each side and 4 inches on the top and bottom.

Based on the above information, the rectangular photograph has:
Length that can be x - 4
Width that can be x - 3

Area of a rectangle = length * width
A = (x-4) (x-3)
A = x(x-3) - 4(x-3)
A = x² - 3x -4x + 12
A = x² - 7x + 12   Area of the rectangular photograph.