Pearson Algebra 1 Common Core, 2011
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Pearson Algebra 1 Common Core, 2011 View details
4. Factoring to Solve Quadratic Equations
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Exercise 4 Page 570

Write the length of the rectangle as a function of the rectangle's width.

Length: 4 feet
Width: 52 feet

Practice makes perfect
We are making a rectangular table with an area of 10 square feet. The dimensions of a rectangle are its length and width. Recall that the area of a rectangle is length times width. A= l w ⇒ 10= l w We know that the length of the table is one foot shorter than twice its width. Let's call the width of the table x. The length can be written as l=2x-1. 10= l w ⇒ 10=( 2x-1) xWe now have an equation with one variable. If we can solve for the width x, then we can find the length. Let's start by rewriting our equation in standard form.
10=(2x-1)x
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Simplify
10=2x^2-x
0=2x^2-x-10
2x^2-x-10=0
Let's now factor the left-hand side of the above equation.
2x^2-x-10=0
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Factor
2x^2+4x-5x-10=0
2x(x+2)-5x-10=0
2x(x+2)-5x-5(2)=0
2x(x+2)-5(x+2)=0
(x+2)(2x-5)=0
Now that the equation is written in factored form, we will apply the Zero-Product Property.
(x+2)(2x-5)=0
lcx+2=0 & (I) 2x-5=0 & (II)
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Solve for x
lx=- 2 2x-5=0
lx=- 2 2x=5
lx=- 2 x= 52
We can see that x= 52 and x=-2 are solutions to the equation. However, recall that x represents width. Since it does not make sense to have a negative value as a width, x= 52 is the only correct value. Now that we have width, we can solve for length.
l = 2x-1
l = 2( 5/2)-1
l = 5-1
l = 4
We have found that the width of the rectangle is 52 feet and the length is 4 feet.