Can anyone help me with this math problem?

Question

A rectangular deck, whose dimensions are 6 x 8 m, has one of its shorter sides up against a wall. The remaining three sides are to be increased by a uniform strip of wood, so that the area of the deck is tripled. How wide should that strip be?

It has an acompanying picture:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d193/xe3nophon/math.png

Answer 1

Yvonne Mystic found a shape that produces an area three times the original area. But she did not add the same width on all sides.

If you assume you are adding x meters to each side, the new shape is (6+2x) by (8 + x), and the area is (6+2x) (8+x) = 144 (i.e., it equals three times the original area, which was 48 sq. ft.).

If you take the equation from the above paragraph (the equation that ends "= 144"), multiply it out, and rearrange it into standard quadratic form, you will be able to solve for x, which is the width of the strip.

Answer 2

The area of the existing deck is 6m x 8m=48 sq. m. The area of the proposed deck is to be 48 sq. m. x 3=144 sq.m.. Since each of the (3) additional sides must be 'uniform', the new area of the deck would be [let 'n' be the uniform amount (width of the strip) added to each of the THREE sides]: ( 6m+2n ) x ( 8m+n)=144 sq. m., therefore the new dimensions of the deck are
(6+2n) and (8+n). Foil the equation in the middle of the last sentence and then use the quadratic formula and you get:
n = 3.346m.(the width of the uniform strip(s) on each of the three sides).
The modified deck is now 12.692m x 11.346m. Note: the longer dimension is now against the wall.

Answer 3

Umm... I'm trying, give me a sec.

Ok, here's my attempt.

The 8meter sides are increased to 12 each, and the 6 meter side is increased by 6 (3 on each side) So the area of the deck is 12*12 = 144 m^2 which is three times the original i.e. l*b = 8*6 = 48m^2.

GoodLuck!