Question 241365: the base of a triangular sail is 20m shorter than it's height.
the area is 150m2. find the base and height of the sail.
Answer by unlockmath(1688)   (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! Hello,
Let's represent the height of the sail with x and the base will be x-20.
We know the area of a triangle is 1/2(Base)(height), so we can plug in the values given.
1/2(x)(x-20)=150m2. Let's multiply by 2 to remove the fraction.
(x)(x-20)=300m2 Now multiply to give us:
x^2-20x=300m2 Now subtract 300 from both sides.
x^2-20x-300=0 This can be factored into:
(x-30)(x+10)=0 this gives us
x=30 and x=-10
30 Makes sense so the height is 30 meters and the base is 10 meters.
RJ Toftness
www.math-unlock.com
|
|
|
