SOLUTION: The lengths of the sides of a plot of land are such that the first leg is 7 miles shorter than the second leg and the hypotenuse is 1 mile longer than the second leg. Find the leng

Question 946673: The lengths of the sides of a plot of land are such that the first leg is 7 miles shorter than the second leg and the hypotenuse is 1 mile longer than the second leg. Find the lengths of the sides of the plot of land?

I have worked this using Pythagorean theorem and came up with 12, 5, and 13, but I am not sure I did it right. Can anyone confirm my answers for me?
Answer by KMST(5328) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
You're right.
We define a variable:
= length of second .leg.
:= length of second leg;
= length of hypotenuse.
We apply the Pythagorean theorem:

<--->--->--->
<---><---> does not work, because it yields a negative number for the length of the first leg.
--->--->
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