SOLUTION: I have two questions: 1. The hieght of the Eiffel Tower is 984 feet. How long would it take an object to fall from the top? 2. The hypotenuse of a right triangle is 35 feet lon

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Question 4777: I have two questions:
1. The hieght of the Eiffel Tower is 984 feet. How long would it take an object to fall from the top?
2. The hypotenuse of a right triangle is 35 feet long. One leg is 7 feet longer than the other. Find the lengths of the legs.
Answer by Abbey(339) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
1. Objects fall to earth at 32 feet per second.
Distance/rate = time
984/32 = 30.75 seconds
2. Use the pythagorean theorem
A%5E2++%2B+B%5E2+=+C%5E2
First Leg = A
Second Leg = A+7
Hypotenuse = 35
A%5E2++%2B+%28A%2B7%29%5E2+=+35%5E2
Clear your parentheses:
A%5E2++%2B+%28A%5E2%2B14A%2B49%29+=+1225
Subtract 1225 from both sides to set the equation = to zero
2A%5E2+%2B14A+%2B+-1176+=+0
Divide the equation by two (factor out a two):
A%5E2+%2B7A+%2B+-588+=+0
Then use the quadratic equation to solve
x+=+%28-b+%2B-+sqrt%28+b%5E2-4%2Aa%2Ac+%29%29%2F%282%2Aa%29+
x+=+%28-7+%2B-+sqrt%28+49-4%2A1%2A-588+%29%29%2F%282%2A1%29+
x+=+%28-7+%2B-+sqrt%28+49%2B2352+%29%29%2F%282%29+
Since we are talking about a measurement (a distance) we can disregard the negative answer,
x+=+%28-7+%2B+sqrt%28+2401%29%29%2F%282%29+ = 21 feet
so the other leg is 28 feet