SOLUTION: The hypotenuse equals 23 units, find the size of the other two legs of a right triangle with one leg 3 units more than the other. What is the formula?

Question 154288: The hypotenuse equals 23 units, find the size of the other two legs of a right triangle with one leg 3 units more than the other. What is the formula?
Answer by orca(409) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Let x be the length of the shorter leg, then that of the longer one is x + 3.
Applying the Pythagorean Theorem, we have

Solving for x, we have

(divide both sides by 2)
(plug in a=1,b=3,c=-260)

Or
(reject this solution as the length can not be negative)
Thus the length of the shorter leg is 14.69 units, and the length of the longer one is x+3=14.69+3=17.69 units

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