Question

Linda is planning to build a rectangular deck that is 12 feet longer than it is wide. Find its width if its area is 589 square feet. Write an equation that models this problem?

Answer 1

Let the width be x, then the length is x + 12.
Area = length x width = x(x + 12) = 589
$x^{2} +12x = 589$
Solving the quadratic equation, we have that
x = 19 feet
i.e. the width is 19 feet.