Stalls in a particular market occupy a 3 m by 2m spaces. The stall owners requested that the area of their stalls be doubled. The market owner granted this request by increasing the length and the width equally. What are the new dimensions of the stalls?
old area = 2x3 = 6
new area = double the old = 12
(2+x)(3+x) = 12
x^2 + 5x + 6 - 12 = 0
x^2 + 5x - 6 = 0
(x+6)(x-1) = 0
x = 1 or x = -6, which of course makes no sense
each dimension is increased by 1 m
check: new stall is 3 by 4 for a total of 12 m^2