Question 1138821: A goat enclosure is in the shape of a right triangle. One leg of the enclosure is built against the side of the barn. The other leg is 4 feet more than the leg against the barn. The hypotenuse is 8 feet more than the leg along the barn. Find the length, in feet, of the three sides of the goat enclosure.
Answer by ikleyn(52781)   (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! .
The three side lengths are 12 ft, 16 ft and 20 ft.
It is a standard (3,4,5) right angled triangle.
Formally and algebraically
x^2 + (x+4)^2 = (x+8)^2 (Pythagorean with x = the length of the shortest leg)
x^2 + x^2 + 8x + 16 = x^2 + 16x + 64
x^2 - 8x - 48 = 0
(x-12)*(x+4) = 0
x= 12 is the only positive solution.
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