SOLUTION: Thank you in advance for your help. It is appreciated. My word problem is: One leg of a right triangle is 4 inches longer than the other leg. If the length of the hypotenuse i

Question 142778This question is from textbook
: Thank you in advance for your help. It is appreciated. My word problem is: One leg of a right triangle is 4 inches longer than the other leg. If the length of the hypotenuse is 20 inches find the length of each leg. This question is from textbook

Answer by jojo14344(1513) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Well, we use pythagorean theorem, where we assigned "x" as one leg, the other "x+4", being 4 inches longer right? We go to the definition of the pyth theorem, the square of the hypotenuse equals to the sum of the square of each side. To show,
h^2 = x^2 + (x+4)^2 ------- eqn 1
20^2=x^2 + x^2+8x+16
2x^2 + 8x - 384 =0
x^2 +4x -192 =0
(x+16)(x-12)=0
x= -16, we can't use this being negative
x= 12in, this is the one to use, length of one side
x= 4+12 = 16in, the other side
In doubt? Go to the pyth theorem (eqn 1),
20^2 = 12^2 + (12+40^2
400= 144+ 256
400=400
Thank you,
Jojo
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