Tasha is planning an expansion of a square flower garden in a city park. If each side of the original garden is increased by 5 m, the new total area of the garden will be 196 m2. Find the length of each side of the original garden.
Let x be the length of each side of the original garden.
The new length of each side of the expanded garden will be x + 5.
The area of the original garden is x^2.
The area of the expanded garden is (x + 5)^2 = 196
Expanding the equation, we get x^2 + 10x + 25 = 196
Subtracting 196 from both sides, we get x^2 + 10x - 171 = 0
Factoring the quadratic equation, we get (x - 9)(x + 19) = 0
Setting each factor equal to 0, we find x = 9 or x = -19.
Since the length of each side cannot be negative, the length of each side of the original garden is 9 m. Answer: \boxed{9}.