Question

Given a rectangle with an area of 20 square units, if the width is x units and the length is x + 1 units, what is the difference between the length and the width?

Answer 1

Answer: 1unit.

Step-by-step explanation:

Area of the rectangle

A = length × width

Since the area = 20 and the width is x and the length is x + 1.

We now substitute for the values in the above formula and solve for x

20 = x × x + 1

20 = x( x + 1 ), we now open

20 = x² + x , then re arrange.

x² + x - 20 = 0, this is a quadratic equation.we solve for x using quadratic means

Here, I am going to solve using factorization by grouping

x² + x - 20 = 0

x² + 5x - 4x - 20 = 0

x( x + 5 ) - 4( x + 5 ) = 0

( x + 5 )( x - 4 ). = 0

Therefore, the solution for x will be

x = -5 or 4, but x can not be -5 ( negative), so x = 4.

Now the difference between width and the length can easily be calculated from the above,

Width = 4 (x) , and length = 5 (4 + 1),

Now difference will be

5 - 4 = 1unit.