The perimeter of a rectangular outdoor patio is 66 ft. The length is 3 ft greater than the width. What are the dimensions of the patio?

width = 15 ft

length = 18 ft

Step-by-step explanation:

lets assume the width is w, and length is l.

For the first equation, we all know that a rectangle is 2 widths and 2 lengths added up, which in "math" language looks like this:

2w+2l= 66

for the second equation, the problem says that the length is 3 ft greater than the width. From there, we can derive the equation:

w+3 = l

Now you can substitute one of the variables, length or width, but it is easier to do length. The equation ends up being:

2(w+3) + 2w = 66

Distributive property:

2w+6+2w = 66

which is equal to:

4w+6 = 66

which finally is:

w=15 ft.

Now that we know the width, we can just add 3 to the width to get the length, according to the problem. You get:

L = 18 ft.