A rectangular garden is 5 ft longer than it is wide. Its area is 546 ft2. What are its dimensions?

A rectangular garden is 5 ft longer than it is wide. Its area is 546 ft2. What are its dimensions?

1. Area of a rectangle is lw. lw = 546ft^2
2. We know that l = w + 5.

Substitute (2) into (1)
(w + 5)w = 546
w^2 + 5w = 546

Subtract 546 from each side
w^2 + 5w - 546 = 0

Using the positive root in our quadratic calculator, we get w = 21.
This means l = 21 + 5.
l = 26