Question

The length of a rectangle is 5 less than twice its width. The perimeter is 26 meters. How do you find the dimensions of the rectangle?

Answer 1

Width is 6 meters and length is 7 meters.

Explanation:

Let width be `x` and length be `y`. We know that the length of the rectangle is 5 less than twice its width. This can be written as:

`y=2x-5`

We also know that the perimeter of the rectangle is 26 meters. The perimeter is the sum of all sides: 2 widths + 2 lengths.

`P=2x+2y`
`26=2(x+y)`

`x+y=13`

We now have two equations which we can solve simultaneously. Substitute `y=2x-5` into the second equation: `x+y=13`

`x+(2x-5)=13`
`3x=18`
`x=6`

Now that we have a value for `x` (width), we can sub this value into the first equation to get `y` (length).

`y=2(6)-5`
`y=7`

There are other methods you can use to solve simultaneous equations.
Hope this helps :)