The owner of an office building is expanding the length and width of a parking lot by the same amount. The lot currently measures 120 ft by 80 ft, and the expansion will increase its area by 4,400 ft2. By how many feet should the length of the parking lot be increased?A = lw

Let x be the increase in both the length and width. The new area is (120 + x)(80 + x), so the increase is x² + 200x; set this equal to 4,400. Solving x² + 200x − 4,400 = 0 gives the positive solution x = 20, so the length should be increased by 20 ft (choice B).

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