SOLUTION: The two sides of a right triangle differ by one. If the hypotenuse is 29cm, then determine the lenghts of the two sides.

Question 252104: The two sides of a right triangle differ by one. If the hypotenuse is 29cm, then determine the lenghts of the two sides.
Found 2 solutions by MRperkins, palanisamy:
Answer by MRperkins(300) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
let one side =a, then the other side will either be a+1, or a-1 (either one will work, a-1 allows a to be the longer side and a+1 allows a to be the shorter side). Then use the pythagorean theorem to solve for a
so
a^2+(a+1)^2=29^2
.
Foil, combine like terms and get it equal to zero. then factor. Remember that we are dealing with distance, so a is positive.
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Answer by palanisamy(496) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Let the two sides be x,x+1
Then, x^2+(x+1)^2 = (29)^2
x^2+x^2+2x+1= 841
2x^2+2x-840 = 0
x^2+x-420 = 0
(x+21)(x-20) = 0
x = 20 or -21
Therefore the lengths of the sides are 20 cms , 21 cms and 29cms
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