Name: Carl

Who is asking: Student
Level: Secondary

Question:
A walkway of uniform has 72m² and surrounds a swimming pool that is 8m wide and 10m long. Find the width of the walkway.

Hi Carl,

I think you left some words out. I think it should be "A walkway of uniform width has area of 72m^2 ..."

Did you draw a diagram?

Let the width of the walkway be x meters and I drew verticle black lines so that walkway is made up of two short horizontal strips that are each 8 meters by x meters, and two long verticle strips that are each (10+2x) meters by x meters. Hence the area of the walkway is

2 8 x + 2 (10 + 2x) x square meters

Thus

16 x + 2(10 + 2x)x = 72

Simplify and solve for x.

Penny

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