Given side of the square = 40 m
Also width of the pathway = 5 m
∴ Side of the larger square = 40m + 2(5)m
= 40m + 10m
= 50m
Area of the path way = area of large square – area of smaller square
= 502 – 402
Substituting a = 50 and b = 40 in
a2 – b2 = (a + b) (a – b) we have
502 – 402 = (50 + 40) (50 – 40)
Area of pathway = 90 x 10
Area of the pathway = 900 m2