document.write( "Question 324504: I just don't get word problems! the two sides of a right triangle differ by one. If the hypotenuse is 29cm, then determine the lengths of the two sides. How do I solve using the quadratric formula. \n" ); document.write( "
Algebra.Com's Answer #232247 by jim_thompson5910(35256)\"\" \"About 
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\"the two sides of a right triangle differ by one\" means that the two legs of the triangle are 'x' and 'x+1'\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Since \"the hypotenuse is 29cm\", we know that by the pythagorean theorem, we get the equation \"x%5E2%2B%28x%2B1%29%5E2=29%5E2\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x%5E2%2B%28x%2B1%29%5E2=29%5E2\" Start with the given equation.\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x%5E2%2B%28x%2B1%29%5E2=841\" Square 29 to get 841\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x%5E2%2Bx%5E2%2B2x%2B1=841\" FOIL\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x%5E2%2Bx%5E2%2B2x%2B1=841\" FOIL\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x%5E2%2Bx%5E2%2B2x%2B1-841=0\" Subtract 841 from both sides.\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"2x%5E2%2B2x-840=0\" Combine like terms.\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Notice that the quadratic \"2x%5E2%2B2x-840\" is in the form of \"Ax%5E2%2BBx%2BC\" where \"A=2\", \"B=2\", and \"C=-840\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Let's use the quadratic formula to solve for \"x\":\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x+=+%28-B+%2B-+sqrt%28+B%5E2-4AC+%29%29%2F%282A%29\" Start with the quadratic formula\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x+=+%28-%282%29+%2B-+sqrt%28+%282%29%5E2-4%282%29%28-840%29+%29%29%2F%282%282%29%29\" Plug in \"A=2\", \"B=2\", and \"C=-840\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x+=+%28-2+%2B-+sqrt%28+4-4%282%29%28-840%29+%29%29%2F%282%282%29%29\" Square \"2\" to get \"4\". \r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x+=+%28-2+%2B-+sqrt%28+4--6720+%29%29%2F%282%282%29%29\" Multiply \"4%282%29%28-840%29\" to get \"-6720\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x+=+%28-2+%2B-+sqrt%28+4%2B6720+%29%29%2F%282%282%29%29\" Rewrite \"sqrt%284--6720%29\" as \"sqrt%284%2B6720%29\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x+=+%28-2+%2B-+sqrt%28+6724+%29%29%2F%282%282%29%29\" Add \"4\" to \"6720\" to get \"6724\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x+=+%28-2+%2B-+sqrt%28+6724+%29%29%2F%284%29\" Multiply \"2\" and \"2\" to get \"4\". \r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x+=+%28-2+%2B-+82%29%2F%284%29\" Take the square root of \"6724\" to get \"82\". \r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x+=+%28-2+%2B+82%29%2F%284%29\" or \"x+=+%28-2+-+82%29%2F%284%29\" Break up the expression. \r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x+=+%2880%29%2F%284%29\" or \"x+=++%28-84%29%2F%284%29\" Combine like terms. \r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x+=+20\" or \"x+=+-21\" Simplify. \r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "So the possible solutions are \"x+=+20\" or \"x+=+-21\" \r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Since a negative length doesn't make sense, this means that we're going to ignore \"x+=+-21\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "So this means that one leg is \"x=20\" cm long. So the next leg is \"x%2B1=20%2B1=21\" cm long.\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "So the lengths of the two legs are 20 cm and 21 cm.
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