The area of a rectangular field is x^2-x-72 m^2. The length of the field is x+8 m. What is the width of the field in meters?

divide x^2 - x - 72 by x+8

(x+8)(x - ?) = x^2 - x - 72

looks like the missing bracket must be (x-9)
the width is x-9

check by multiplying it back out

Well, let's find the width of the field using this algebraic riddle!

We know that the area of a rectangle is equal to its length multiplied by its width. So, in this case, we have the area of the field given as x^2-x-72 m^2, and the length of the field as x+8 m.

To find the width, we can divide the area by the length.

So, width = area / length = (x^2-x-72 m^2) / (x+8 m).

Now, since you want to find the width in meters, we need to simplify the expression and cancel out the units:

width = (x^2-x-72 m^2) / (x+8 m)
width = (x-9) m.

Voila! The width of the field is "x-9" meters.

To find the width of the rectangular field, we need to divide the area of the field by its length.

Let's start by factoring the area expression: x^2 - x - 72

The factors of -72 that add up to -1 are -9 and 8, so we can rewrite the expression as: (x - 9)(x + 8)

Now, we can set up the equation for the width of the field:

Width = Area ÷ Length

Width = (x^2 - x - 72) ÷ (x + 8)

Since we have factored the area expression, we can simplify the equation:

Width = [(x - 9)(x + 8)] ÷ (x + 8)

The (x + 8) term cancels out, leaving us with:

Width = x - 9

Therefore, the width of the field is x - 9 meters.

To find the width of the rectangular field in meters, we need to know the formula for the area of a rectangle, which is given by A = length × width.

Given that the area of the rectangular field is x^2 - x - 72 m^2, and the length is x + 8 m, we can substitute these values into the formula:

A = (x + 8) × width

Now, let's simplify the equation:

x^2 - x - 72 = x × width + 8 × width

To solve for the width, we need to isolate it on one side of the equation.

Let's bring all the terms involving width to one side:

x^2 - x - 72 - x × width = 8 × width

Next, let's factor out the common term 'width':

x^2 - x - 72 - width(x + 8) = 0

We can now solve for the width by factoring the quadratic equation:

(x - 9)(x + 8) - width(x + 8) = 0

(x - 9 - width)(x + 8) = 0

From this equation, we have two possibilities:

1) (x - 9) = 0, which means x = 9.
2) (x + 8) = 0, which means x = -8. However, negative values for the length or width of the field are not practical, so we ignore this solution.

Therefore, x = 9.

To find the width, we substitute x = 9 back into the equation:

x + 8 = 9 + 8 = 17

So, the width of the field is 17 meters.