SOLUTION: A piece of wire 60 inches long is bent into the form of a right triangle having a hypotenuse of 25 in. Find the other two sides of the triangle

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Question 407130: A piece of wire 60 inches long is bent into the form of a right triangle having a hypotenuse of 25 in. Find the other two sides of the triangle
Answer by robertb(5830) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
The sum of the 2 legs must be 60 - 25 = 35 inches.
Let x = measure of one leg
==> 35 - x = measure of other leg.
==> x%5E2+%2B+%2835+-+x%29%5E2+=+25%5E2
<==> x%5E2+%2B+1225+-+70x+%2B+x%5E2+=+625
<==> 2x%5E2+-70x+%2B+600+=+0
<==> x%5E2+-+35x+%2B+300+=+0
<==> (x - 20)(x - 15) = 0
==> x = 20, 15
Incidentally these are also the only pair of values that will satisfy the conditions of the problem.