Which expression is equivalent to the area of metal sheet required to make this square-shaped traffic sign?

a square shaped traffic sign is shown with length of one side labeled as 8x minus 2.

Given:
square shaped traffic sign. side measure of 8x - 2

A square has 4 equal sides. To find the area of a square, simply square the measure of 1 side. 

Area of a square = a²
A = (8x-2)²
A = (8x-2)(8x-2)
A = 8x(8x-2) - 2(8x-2)
A = 64x² - 16x - 16x + 4
A = 64x² - 32x + 4

Best answer that i found on yahoo ok   set :   x= length of 2nd piece in cm  x- 3= length of 1st piece in cm  x-4= length of 3rd piece in cm  then since you know they all came from the 20 cm ribbon you add them together and set them equal to 20x+ x-3 +x-4 = 20  3x - 7= 20  3x= 27  x= 9  the shortest piece is the third piece which is x- 4  x-4  9-4 = 5  the length of the smallest piece is 5 cm.  the other lengths are  9 cm  6 cm