Quandaries & Queries - Math Central

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Quandaries & Queries

Rimi, a student:

USE FACTORING, QUAD FORMULA, AND COMPLETE THE SQUARE!
Chris cuts half a rectangular lawn, 40m by 30m, by mowing strips
of equal width around the perimeter. Jonah cuts the small rectangle
left. How wide a strip does Chris cut so that they share the work equally?

Hi Rimi,

Suppose the strip that Chris cuts is W metres wide.

What is the area of the lawn?
What is the area that remains for Jonah?
What is W if the area that remains for Jonah is half the area of the entire lawn?

Harley

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