SOLUTION: the flower garden has the shape of a right triangle. 17 ft of a perennial border forms the hypotenuse of the triangle, and one leg is 7 ft long than the other leg. find the lengths
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Question 256524: the flower garden has the shape of a right triangle. 17 ft of a perennial border forms the hypotenuse of the triangle, and one leg is 7 ft long than the other leg. find the lengths of the legs, thank you
Answer by solver91311(24713) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Let 
represent the short leg, then 
represents the long leg, and we are given that the hypotenuse is 17. Pythagoras says (or would have said if he were still alive, that is):
^2\ =\ 17^2)
Expand, collect terms, and put the quadratic into standard form:
Factor out the unnecessary 2:
The quadratic factors. {Hint: -8 times 15 = -120 and -8 plus 15 = 7}. Exclude the negative root. Your answer is the positive root.
John
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