Infinitely many.
Suppose the length of the rectangle if L feet where L is any number greater than sqrt(42) = approx 6.481 ft.
Let the width of the rectangle be W = 42/L feet.
Then its area is L*W = L*42/L = 42 sq ft
There are infinitely many possible values for L and so infinitely many rectangles.
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If I only know the area, I can't tell you the dimensions. It all depends on the shape. A circle and a square give two different answers, and there are millions of rectangles, with different dimensions, that are all perfectly good and completely correct answers.
To find the different rectangles with an area of 32 square units, we need to consider the factor pairs of 32. The pairs are (1, 32), (2, 16), (4, 8), and their reverses, giving us the dimensions of the rectangles: 1x32, 2x16, 4x8, and 8x4. However, since the order of dimensions does not create a new rectangle, we have four unique rectangles: 1x32, 2x16, and 4x8. Thus, there are three distinct rectangles with an area of 32 square units.
Thee different rectangles with an area of 12 square units are 3 by 4, 2 by 6 and 1 by 12.
The area of a shape does not provide enough information to determine its dimensions. There are infinitely many possible rectangles: ranging from a nearly square area to an extremely long, very thin strip.
You can't tell the dimensions if you only know the area. There are an infinite number of different rectangles that all have the same area.