A rectangular table has a length of 4dm longer than its width. What is the length of the table if the area is 16.5m?
let's work in metres nod dm
let the width be x m
then the length is x+.4 m
x(x+.4) = 16.5
x^2 + .4x - 16.5 = 0
10x^2 + 4x - 165 = 0
use the quadratic to solve for x, reject the negative value