A rectangular piece of sheet metal is 10 m long and 5 m wide. If the area doubles when the length and the width is increased by the same unit of length, what are the new measurements?
Let's call the increased length and width x.
If the area doubles, then the new area is 2 times the original area, or 2(10)(5) = 100 square meters.
Set up an equation to represent the new area:
(x)(x) = 100
Solve for x:
x^2 = 100
x = 10
So the new length is 10 m + 10 m = <<10+10=20>>20 m and the new width is 5 m + 10 m = <<5+10=15>>15 m.