Question

a square has one side increased in lenght by two inches and an adjacent side decreaded in length by two  inches. If the resulting rectange has an area of 60 square inches, what was the area of the original square?

Answer 1

Let
x---------> length original square side
x1-------->  length resulting rectangle
y1--------> wide resulting rectangle
A1--------> area resulting rectangle

we know that
x1=x+2
y1=x-2
A1=60 in²
60=(x+2)*(x-2)--------> 60=x²-2x+2x-4-------> 60=x²-4------> x²=64
x1=8
x2=-8

the solution is 
x=8 in
the area of the original square is 8*8-------> 64 in²

the answer is 64 in²