Question

miriam reduced a square photo by cutting 3 inches away from the length and the width so it will fit in her photo album. the area of the reduced photo is 64 square inches. in the equation ((x - 3)^2 = 64), (x) represents the side measure of the original photo. what were the dimensions of the original photo?

• 11 inches by 11 inches
• 5 inches by 5 inches
• (3 + 4sqrt{2}) inches by (3 + 4sqrt{2}) inches
• (3 - 4sqrt{2}) inches by (3 - 4sqrt{2}) inches

Explanation:

Step1: Take square root of both sides

$\sqrt{(x - 3)^2} = \sqrt{64}$
$x - 3 = \pm 8$

Step2: Solve for x (positive side length)

$x - 3 = 8$ (since negative length is invalid)
$x = 8 + 3 = 11$

Answer:

A. 11 inches by 11 inches