Question

The area of a square is tripled by adding 10 cm to one dimension and 12 cm to the other. Determine the side length of the square.

Answer 1

Area = length *width
A = x²
3x² = (x+10)(x+12)
3x² = x²+10x+12x+120
3x² = x²+22x+120
3x²-3x² = x²+22x+120-3x²
0 = -2x²+22x+120
Factor to solve for x: 
-2(x²-11x-60)
(x+4)(x-15)
x = -4  & x = 15 but we can't have a negative length so we eliminate 4. The length of the square is 15 cm.