Question

Tasha is planning an expansion of a square flower garden in a city park. If each side of the original garden is increased by 7 m, the new total area of the garden will be 144 m². Find the length of each side of the original garden.

(1 point) Responses
A. 19 m
B. 12 m
C. 5 m
D. √5 m

Answer 1

[AI-generated answer — Bot GPT 3.5]

Let x be the length of each side of the original garden.

Therefore, the area of the original garden is x^2.
If each side is increased by 7 m, the new side length is x + 7.
The new area of the garden is (x + 7)^2 = 144.
Expanding the equation, we get x^2 + 14x + 49 = 144.
Subtracting 144 from both sides, we get x^2 + 14x - 95 = 0.
Factoring the equation, we get (x + 19)(x - 5) = 0.
Setting each factor equal to zero, we get x + 19 = 0 or x - 5 = 0.
Solving for x, we get x = -19 or x = 5.
Since the length cannot be negative, the length of each side of the original garden is 5 m.
Therefore, the answer is C. 5 m.