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The length of the base of the triangular sheet of canvass above the door of the tent is 3 ft. more
than its height (altitude). The area is 5 ft2. Find the height and the length of the base of the triangle.
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In this problem, you may forget about the tent, about the canvass and about the door,
since they are not relevant to the problem.
What is relevant, is the shape of the figure, which is a triangle.
Let x be the altitude of the triangle (in feet);
then the base of this triangle is (x+3) feet.
Write the area equation for the triangle
= 5 square feet,
or
x*(x+3) = 5*2 = 10 square feet.
From this equation, you can guess the solution mentally: it is x = 2 feet.
ANSWER. The altitude of the triangle is 2 ft; the base of the triangle is 5 ft.
Solved.