If a 5-inch by 7-inch rectangular picture has a 1-inch-wide mat around it, what is the area of the mat?

(5+2)(7+2) - 5*7 = ____

Did you know?

Did you know that when a rectangular picture has a mat around it, the area of the mat can be easily calculated? In this case, with a 5-inch by 7-inch picture and a 1-inch-wide mat, the area of the mat can be determined by subtracting the area of the picture from the total area of the framed artwork. Using the formula for the area of a rectangle (length x width), the area of the picture is 5 inches x 7 inches = 35 square inches. To find the total area of the framed artwork, we add the area of the picture to twice the product of the width of the mat and the sum of the length and width of the picture. The width of the mat is 1 inch, and the length and width of the picture are 5 inches and 7 inches respectively. Thus, the area of the mat is (1 inch x (5 inches + 7 inches)) + (1 inch x 7 inches) + (1 inch x 5 inches) = 19 square inches.