Given the following rectangle:
The perimeter of the rectangle is 32.
Find the value of the parameter x.
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Given the following rectangle:
The perimeter of the rectangle is 32.
Find the value of the parameter x.
To solve this problem, let's clearly follow these steps:
Step 1: Identify the information given and needed for solving.
Step 2: Apply the perimeter formula for a rectangle.
Step 3: Solve for the unknown variable .
Step 1: The rectangle has a perimeter . One pair of opposite sides is and the other pair is 10.
Step 2: The perimeter of a rectangle is calculated by
where is the length and is the width.
Here, and .
Step 3: Substitute the given values into the formula:
Expand the equation:
To solve for , subtract 20 from both sides:
Finally, divide both sides by 4 to find :
Therefore, the solution to the problem is .
3
Look at the rectangle ABCD below.
Side AB is 6 cm long and side BC is 4 cm long.
What is the area of the rectangle?
A rectangle has 4 sides - two lengths and two widths. Since opposite sides are equal, we have 2 × length + 2 × width, which simplifies to .
Look at the diagram carefully! The side labeled 2x is the length, and the side labeled 10 is the width. It doesn't matter which you call length or width - just be consistent.
Check your algebra! Since x represents part of a side length, it should be positive. A negative x would mean a negative side length, which doesn't make sense for a real rectangle.
Yes! You could use instead: 32 = 2(2x) + 2(10) = 4x + 20. Both methods give the same answer: x = 3.
Substitute back: if x = 3, then the sides are 2(3) = 6 and 10. Perimeter = 2(6 + 10) = 2(16) = 32 ✓
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