How to find the length of the side of a rectangle - ACT Math

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Question

The width, in cm, of a rectangular fence is 2 more than half its length, in cm. Which of the following gives the width, w cm, in terms of length, l cm, of the rectangular fence?

Answer

To find the width, we must take half of the length, which means we must divide the length by 2. Then we must take 2 more than that number, which means we must add 2 to the number. Combining these, we get:

w = ½ l + 2

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Question

The width of a rectangle is 2 inches longer than 3 times its length. Which of the following equations gives the width, w, of the rectangle in terms of its length, l,?

Answer

The width equals 3 times the length, so 3l, plus an additional two inches, so + 2, = 3l + 2

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Question

Your dad shows you a rectangular scale drawing of your house. The drawing is 6 inches by 8 inches. You're trying to figure out the actual length of the shorter side of the house. If you know the actual length of the longer side is 64 feet, what is the actual length of the shorter side of the house (in feet)?

Answer

We can solve this by setting up a proportion and solving for x,the length of the shorter side of the house. If the drawing is scale and is 6 : 8, then the actual house is x : 64. Then we can cross multiply so that 384 = 8_x_. We then divide by 8 to get x = 48.

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