Julius has a garden that has dimensions of 12 ft by 20 ft. julius needs more room to plant some peppers, and determines the garden will need a new area of 360 square feet. how much should he increase the length and width by, if he wants to increase them by the same amount? round your answer to the nearest tenth.
a. 3.8 feet
b. 3.6 feet
c. 3.4 feet
d. 35.4 feet

First step here is to find out the current area of the garden:  
12(20) = 240
the problem states that we have to increase each side by the same amount (let's call that value x) to have the new area of 360 sqft. we can express that in a mathematical equation as follows:  
(12+x)(20+x) = 240 

here you are given an option to use mathematical manipulation to find your x or simply use all the choices and substitute it to x. which ever choice gives 360 is the answer.