Neil is painting two squares on his bedroom wall. The length of one side of the first square is 12 inches. The second square will be 3 times the size of the first square. What is the area of the second square?

1. ∠1 is complementary to ∠2 and ∠3 is complementary to ∠2. subtraction property of equality 2. m∠1 + m∠2 = 90 and m∠3 + m∠2 = 90 substitution 3. m∠1 + m∠2 = m∠3 + m∠2 definition of complementary 4. m∠1 = m∠3 given