SOLUTION: Hi all, I'm having trouble on this word problem. Hopefully someone can help me find the equation, this is tough. Thank you :) Find the length of the shorter leg of a right tri

Question 478232: Hi all, I'm having trouble on this word problem. Hopefully someone can help me find the equation, this is tough. Thank you :)

Find the length of the shorter leg of a right triangle if the longer leg is 3 feet more than the shorter leg and the hypotenuse is 3 feet less than twice the shorter leg.
The length of the shorter leg is ?? feet
Answer by nerdybill(7384) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Find the length of the shorter leg of a right triangle if the longer leg is 3 feet more than the shorter leg and the hypotenuse is 3 feet less than twice the shorter leg.
.
Let s = length of short leg
then from "longer leg is 3 feet more than the shorter leg ":
s+3 = length of long leg
and from "hypotenuse is 3 feet less than twice the shorter leg":
2s-3 = length of hypotenuse
.
Now we use Pythagorean theorem to get our equation:
s^2 + (s+3)^2 = (2s-3)^2
s^2 + (s+3)(s+3) = (2s-3)(2s-3)
s^2 + (s^2+6s+9) = (4s^2-12s+9)
2s^2+6s+9 = 4s^2-12s+9
6s+9 = 2s^2-12s+9
9 = 2s^2-18s+9
0 = 2s^2-18s
0 = s^2-9s
0 = s(s-9)
s = {0, 9}
throw out the zero case leaving:
s = 9 feet

RELATED QUESTIONS
A while back I submitted this question. Hopefully someone can help me out. Please!... (answered by AnlytcPhil)

Hi All, I'm having trouble with this word problem, can't seem to find the equation to... (answered by wilft1)

Hi, Can someone help me with this problem, I have been out of school for 20 year and I (answered by Alan3354)

Hi, can anyone help me figure out this co-ordinate geometry problem? I am having a tough... (answered by Gogonati)

Hi, I am having trouble figuring out the correct equation to form from the following word (answered by lwsshak3)

Can someone please help me solve this problem. I am having a lot of trouble working it... (answered by funmath)

hi, can you please help me on solving systems using substation this is a problem I am... (answered by amarjeeth123)

Hi. I am having a very tough time with the conic sections portion of my algebra class. Is (answered by greenestamps)

Hi. I'm having trouble finishing this equation. Can you help me? Find all real... (answered by Fombitz)