Algebra WORD PROBLEMS Step 3. Area of Reduced Pad =     (Length  of  Reduced  Pad)(Width  of  Reduced Pad) 600 264 (30 2x)(20 2x) 336 600 100x 4x² Step 4. Solve this quadratic equation. 4x² - 100x + 264 = 0 Using the Quadratic Formula, substitute the coefficients for a, b, and c and solve for x. x b  ± b² 4ac 2a x (  100)  ± (  100)² 4(4)(264) 2(4) x 100  ± 10,000 4,224 8 x 100  ± 5,776 8 x 100  ±  76 8 x 100 76 8 ,¹⁰⁰ 76 8 x 176 8 ,²⁴ 8 x 22, 3 The  two  roots  are  x  =  22  feet  and  x  =  3  feet.   Since  x  =  22  feet  is  not physically meaningful, the answer is x = 3 feet. Rev. 0 Page 61 MA-02