Question

A square flower bed is to be enlarged by adding 3 meters on each side. If the larger square has an area of 169 square meters, what is the length of a square side of the original square?

Answer 1

y=1 side of the square box

(y+6)^2=169
y+6=13
13-6=7
y=7 feet

Answer 2

Please find the diagram in the file that has been attached.

Let the original square flower bed be represented by the square ABCD. Let each side of the original square have a length of $x$ meters.

Now, if this original square flower bed is enlarged by adding 3 meters on each side then the new square will be PQRS and the length of each of it's side will be $x+3+3=x+6$ meters. (This is because there are two sides...one at A and the other at B.

It has been given in the question that the larger square, PQRS, has an area of 169 square meters.

Therefore, as can be seen from the diagram,

$(x+6)^2=169$

$\therefore x+6=\sqrt{169}=13$

Thus, $x=13-6=7$ meters

Therefore, the length of a square side of the original square is 7 meters