The length of the rectangle is $4$ m longer than its width. If the area is $8~\text{m}^2$, find the rectangle's dimensions. Round to the nearest $10$th of a meter.
I have absolutely no clue how to begin with this.
The length of the rectangle is $4$ m longer than its width. If the area is $8~\text{m}^2$, find the rectangle's dimensions. Round to the nearest $10$th of a meter.
I have absolutely no clue how to begin with this.
Well, for word problems, a good idea to begin with is translating the English sentences into math, in this case, equations.
The length of the rectangle is 4 longer than its width
$L = W + 4$ where $L$ and $W$ denote the length and width.
The area is 8
$A = 8 = LW$ where the latter equation is the formula for area.
So we know that $L = W+4$ which allows us to plug it into the area equation and solve for $W$.
$$8 = (W+4)W$$
and once you have $W$, you can plug it back into $L= W+4$ to solve for $L$.