The area of the pool = 24 * 16 = 384 sq ft
So the total area = twice this = 768 sq ft
Call the patio width, x
So.....the whole area can be represented by
[24 + 2x] * [ 16 + 2x] = 768 simplify
384 + 80x + 4x^2 = 768 divide through by 4
96 + 20x + x^2 = 192 subtract 192 from both sides and rearrange
x^2 + 20x - 96 = 0 factor
[x + 24] * [ x - 4] = 0 set each factor to 0 ..... and we have that
x = -24 or x = 4 reject the negative answer
So.....the patio width = 4 ft
