Problema Solution

The length of a painting is 2 inches longer than the width. The area of the painting is 48in^2. If a 3-inch frame is put around the painting, what is the area of the frame?

Answer provided by our tutors

Let

x = the width

x + 2 = the length

The area = width*length thus x(x + 2) = 48.

By solving the quadratic equation x(x + 2) = 48 we will find x:

x(x + 2) = 48

........

click here to see the quadratic equation solved for x

........

x = 6

We need to ignore the negative solution -8 since the width is always positive.

The total area of the painting together with the frame is: (x + 2*3)*(x + 2 + 2*3).

The area of the frame is:

(x + 2*3)*(x + 2 + 2*3) - x(x + 2) = 12x + 48

click here to see the step by step simplification of the above equation

Plug for x = 6:

12*6 + 48 = 120 in^2

The area of the frame is 120 in^2.