Answer: The shortest side of the poster is 44 inches
The the picture is 20 x 25 inches
Let the width of the picture = 20 inches
Let the length of the picture = 25 inches
When enlarged into a picture the longest side was 55 inches
To calculate the shortest side, we need to establish a proportion between the picture and the poster
The length of the poster = 55 inches
Let the width of the poster be x
[tex]\begin{gathered} \frac{20}{25}\text{ = }\frac{x}{55} \\ \text{Introduce cross multiplication} \\ x\cdot\text{ 25 = 20 x 55} \\ 25x\text{ = 1100} \\ \text{Divide both sides by 25} \\ \frac{25x}{25}\text{ = }\frac{1100}{25} \\ x\text{ = 44 inches} \\ \text{The shortest side of the poster is 44 inches} \end{gathered}[/tex]
