Advanced MathMediumSide of a square from the difference of two areas
Advanced Math practice question
The side of one square is 3 centimetres longer than the side of another, and the areas of the two squares differ by 51 square centimetres. What is the side length, in centimetres, of the smaller square?
Answer: 7
(s + 3)² − s² = 6s + 9 = 51 → 6s = 42 → s = 7.
Common wrong answers
- If you answered 8
- 8 comes from 6s = 51 − 3, subtracting 3 instead of 9.
- If you answered 10
- 10 is the side of the larger square.
- If you answered 51
- 51 is the difference in areas, not a side.
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