We're given area = 44m^2, and the formula for the area of a rectangle is the length multiplied by the width. So,
A = L * w = 44
We're given that the length is 3m shorter than 2 times the width, which is 2w - 3. "2w" is the same as "2 times the width", and the 3 is subtracted because it says 3m shorter than 2 times the width. So L = 2w - 3, and we can substitute that into our equation above.
(2w - 3)(w) = 44
2w^2 - 3w - 44 = 0
Use the quadratic formula here.
x = {3 ± √(-3)^2 - 4(-44)(2)}/2(2)
= {3 ± √9 + 352}/4
= (3 ± 19)/4
You'll get two answers, but remember, we're measuring the length of the sides of shapes, so it has to be positive. It's impossible to have negative lengths, so we're going to stick with the (3 + 19)/4 answer, which is 22/4, which is 5.5. However, we are not finished yet. This is just the width. Now we need to plug it into the equation for length, which was 2w - 3
2(5.5) - 3 = 11 - 3 = 8
The length is 8m and the width is 5.5m.
