A rectangular garden whose width is 4 meters less than its length has an area of 57 square meters. Find the dimensions of the garden to the nearest tenth of a meter.
Q. A rectangular garden whose width is 4 meters less than its length has an area of 57 square meters. Find the dimensions of the garden to the nearest tenth of a meter.
Define Variables: Let's call the length of the garden L meters and the width W meters. We know that W=L−4. The area of the garden is given as 57 square meters, so we can write the equation L×W=57.
Area Equation: Now we substitute W with L−4 in the area equation: L×(L−4)=57.
Expand Equation: Expanding the equation gives us L2−4L=57.
Quadratic Equation: To find the value of L, we need to solve the quadratic equation. We move all terms to one side to set the equation to zero: L2−4L−57=0.
Quadratic Formula: We can solve the quadratic equation by factoring, completing the square, or using the quadratic formula. The quadratic formula is L=2a−b±b2−4ac. In our equation, a=1, b=−4, and c=−57.
Substitute Values: Plugging the values into the quadratic formula gives us L=2⋅14±(−4)2−4⋅1⋅(−57).
Simplify Square Root: Simplifying inside the square root: L=24±16+228.
Calculate Solutions: Further simplification gives us L=24±244.
Discard Negative Solution: Calculating the square root of 244 gives us approximately 15.62. So, L=(4±15.62)/2.
Calculate Length: We have two possible solutions for L: L=(4+15.62)/2 or L=(4−15.62)/2. Since a length can't be negative, we discard the second solution.
Calculate Width: Calculating the positive solution gives us L=(4+15.62)/2=19.62/2=9.81 meters.
Calculate Width: Calculating the positive solution gives us L=(4+15.62)/2=19.62/2=9.81 meters. Now we find the width using the relationship W=L−4: W=9.81−4=5.81 meters.
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