Problema Solution
A rectangular table is two times as long as it is wide. If the area is 18 ft^2, find the length and the width of the table.
Answer provided by our tutors
Since the width is mentioned last, call it by the variable name. I'll use "w" for width. That means the length is "2w" because it's twice as long as the width.
Area is length times width
so
18 = 2w*w
2w^2 = 18
w^2 = 9
w = 3 (w could also be -3, but that wouldn't make sense for the width of a table)
So, the table is 3 ft wide and 6 ft long.