Jay@ManhattanReview wrote:

LUANDATO wrote:A rectangular tabletop consists of a piece of laminated wood bordered by a thin metal strip along its four edges. The surface area of the tabletop is x square feet, and the total lenght of the strip before it was attached was x feet. If the tabletop is 3 feet wide, what is its approximate lenght, in feet?

(A) 12
(B) 10
(C) 9
(D) 8
(E) 6

The OA is E.

I'm really confused with this PS question. Please, can any expert assist me with it? Thanks in advanced.

Say the length and width of the tabletop are l and w, respectively.

given the area and perimeter are equal with given width=3
In case length =L then
3L=2(L+3)
or L=6
enjoy

Thus, we have l*w = x (given)

=> 3l = x ---(1); we are given that width w = 3 ft

Total length of the metal strip = 2l + 2w = x (given); assuming that the thickness of the strip is negligible. We can do so as the question an approximate answer. In reality, it would have been 2l + 2w - 4*thickness of the strip = x

2l + 2w = x => 2l + 2*3 = x => 2l + 6 = x ---(2)

From (1) and (2), we get 3l = 2l + 6 => l = 6 ft.

The correct answer: E

Hope this helps!

-Jay
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