a playground is 5 meters longer than its width. what are the dimension of itd area ia 968m. squared

solve for x

x(x+5) = 968

(hint you should get x = appr 28.7 )

To find the dimensions of the playground, we can set up equations based on the given information:

Let's say the width of the playground is "x" meters.

According to the given information, the playground is 5 meters longer than its width. So, the length would be "x + 5" meters.

The formula for the area of a rectangle is length multiplied by width:

Area = Length * Width

Given that the area is 968 square meters, we can write the equation:

968 = (x + 5) * x

To solve this equation, we can simplify it and bring it to the standard quadratic form:

968 = x^2 + 5x

Rearranging the equation:

x^2 + 5x - 968 = 0

Now, we can solve this quadratic equation to find the values of "x" using factoring, completing the square, or the quadratic formula.

Let's use the quadratic formula:

x = (-b ± √(b^2 - 4ac))/(2a)

For our equation:
a = 1, b = 5, c = -968

Plugging in these values into the quadratic formula, we get:

x = (-5 ± √(5^2 - 4*1*(-968))) / (2*1)

Simplifying further:

x = (-5 ± √(25 + 3872)) / 2

x = (-5 ± √(3897)) / 2

Since we are dealing with measurements, we will only consider the positive value of "x" (width cannot be negative):

x = (-5 + √(3897)) / 2 ≈ 30.73

Now we have the width of the playground, x ≈ 30.73 meters.

To find the length, we can substitute this value back into the expression for the length:

Length = x + 5 ≈ 30.73 + 5 ≈ 35.73 meters

So, the dimensions of the playground are approximately 30.73 meters for the width and 35.73 meters for the length.