The length of a rectangle is 8 more than the width. The perimeter of the rectangle is 56 inches. Write and solve a system of linear equations to find the length and width of the rectangle. Show and explain each step thoroughly.

There are 4 sides to a rectangle, which we will name as x as we do not know their length yet. We will be adding up these 4 sides as we are given the perimeter. However, we know that the length of the of the rectangle is 8 units longer than its width, which will make them x+8 units long. So, our equation is:

x + (x+8) + x + (x+8) = 56

where x is a measure of the width and (x+8) is a measure of the length. Now we solve, first collecting the like terms:

x+x+8+x+x+8=56

4x+16=56

Now minus 16 on both sides:

4x=40

And finally divide by 4 on both sides to isolate x:

x=10

So, the width (x) is 10 units, and the length (x+8) is 12 units.

I assume that the length of the rectangle is 8 inch more than width.