A square picture is mounted on a larger rectangular sheet of poster paper leaving a border around the picture of 2 inches on the bottom and 1 inch on each of the remaining sides. The sheet of poster paper has an area of 42 square inches. If x represents the length of a side of the square picture, then write the equation that can be used to determine the value of x and solve it.
1 Answer
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picture is x inches by x inches
poster paper is x+3 inches high and x+2 inches wide
area = (x+3)(x+2) = 42
x²+5x-36 = 0
x = 4 inches
The picture is 4 inches by 4 inches.
The paper is 7 inches high and 6 inches wide.
