Hi, and welcome to Gmat Club. Below is a solution for your problem.

Given: \(area=length*width=x\), as \(width=3\) --> \(3l=x\).

"Wood bordered by a thin metal strip along its four edges" and "the total length of the strip before it was attached was x" means that perimeter of a rectangular tabletop is also equal to \(x\): \(2(l+w)=2l+6=x\);

So we have: \(3l=2l+6\) --> \(l=6\).

Answer: E.

Hope it's clear.
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Thanks Bunuel! You are a genius.

Don't you think that this question can be misinterpreted? I imagined the thin metal strip as having a width that does not equal 0. Unless I am mistaken, that would change the answer. I guess the test-makers wanted me to interpret the word "thin" as meaning that the width of the metal strip was 0. Not fair!

Thanks a bunch for your help, Bunuel.

Hello Guys,
My first post.
In case the metal width is non negligible , lets say its 2 feet.
then
Given: area=length*width=x, as width=3 3L=x

The length of metal strip would be the perimeter of the rectangle + 4 times the width of metal ie length of strip = x= 2(3+L) + (4*2)

Solving for L will give us 14 feet

Please Note the width of the metal strip is multiplied 4 times to get the actual length of metal strip.
Thanks,
Milan

Hey Milan,

Yeah, that's what I thought. If the width of the metal strip was non-negligible, then the answer would be different. I think this question can be misinterpreted.

Ambiguous Question. Nowhere explicitly stated that we shouldn't consider the thickness of the thin metal strip.
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The Highlighted part: I am unable to visualize/understand, how the length of a strip (given) becomes the perimeter of a table top. If it said, total length of the table top is x then maybe it would make sense.

We are told that tabletop is surrounded by a thin metal strip along its four edges and the total length of the strip before it was attached was x feet. So, the length of the strip equals to the perimeter of the tabletop.

Does this make sense?
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[/quote]

The Highlighted part: I am unable to visualize/understand, how the length of a strip (given) becomes the perimeter of a table top. If it said, total length of the table top is x then maybe it would make sense.[/quote]

We are told that tabletop is surrounded by a thin metal strip along its four edges and the total length of the strip before it was attached was x feet. So, the length of the strip equals to the perimeter of the tabletop.

Does this make sense?[/quote]

Yes it does.

Thank you!

Hello,

I am having some trouble understanding exactly what the author of the question is asking us to solve. Could someone provide insight into what is being asked? Thank you!

If we let L = the length of the table, we have:

3L = x

and

2L + 2(3) = x

Therefore, we have


3L = 2L + 2(3)

L = 6

Answer: E
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This question was highly misguiding to me. If it is written it is a metal strip, it automatically means that it has a separate thickness. If metal wire would have been mentioned instead of strip then the solution provided would suffice.
Because of "metal strip", I was unable to solve the question.

Will gmat give such ambigous terms in the question? If so, then what should my approach in solving them?
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Given: area=length∗width=xarea=length∗width=x, as width=3width=3 --> 3l=x3l=x.

"Wood bordered by a thin metal strip along its four edges" and "the total length of the strip before it was attached was x" means that perimeter of a rectangular tabletop is also equal to xx: 2(l+w)=2l+6=x2(l+w)=2l+6=x;

So we have: 3l=2l+63l=2l+6 --> l=6l=6.

Vinit800HBS please could you help me understand why the following calculation works?

We are told that 3L = x feet^2 and 2 (L+B) = x feet or 2L + 6 = x feet

Now how can we substitute x feet with 3L and say 3L = 2L + 6 or L = 6? because x feet is not the same as x feet^2 right?

The wording is tricky, and I know that's sort of the whole point of the GMAT, but is it normal to disguise the perimeter by saying it's the total length of the metal strip. I took that to just mean the length of one side of the strip, given that they differentiate the width later in the question so why would length here mean length + width or (2L + 2W)?