Liliana decides to crop a square photo by reducing each side by 2 inches to fit it into a frame. The area of the original photo was 121 square inches. In the equation [tex]\((x + 2)^2 = 121\)[/tex], [tex]\(x\)[/tex] represents the side length of the cropped photo.

What are the dimensions of the cropped photo?

A. 8 inches by 8 inches
B. 9 inches by 9 inches
C. 12 inches by 12 inches
D. 13 inches by 13 inches



Answer :

Let's start by interpreting the information given in the problem.

1. Determine the side length of the original photo:
- The area of the original photo is 121 square inches.
- Since the photo is square, the side length of the original photo can be found by taking the square root of the area.
- The square root of 121 is 11 inches.
So, the side length of the original photo is 11 inches.

2. Find the side length of the cropped photo:
- The problem states that Liliana crops 2 inches from each side of the photo.
- This means the original photo is reduced by 2 inches on the left side and 2 inches on the right side.
- Consequently, each side of the cropped photo is 11 inches - 2 inches - 2 inches = 9 inches.

3. Verify the dimensions of the cropped photo:
- To be thorough, let's double-check our solution by confirming that the side length of the cropped photo is indeed consistent with the given information.
- We've determined that each side of the cropped photo is 9 inches.
- To ensure correct understanding, considering that in the equation [tex]\((x+2)^2=121\)[/tex], [tex]\(x=\)[/tex] side length of the cropped photo.
[tex]\[ \sqrt{121} - 2 = 11 - 2 = 9 \][/tex]
This correctly matches our previous calculation.

Therefore, the dimensions of the cropped photo are [tex]\(9\)[/tex] inches by [tex]\(9\)[/tex] inches.