SOLUTION: One leg of a right traingular piece of land has a length of 72 feet. The hypotenuse has a length of 74 yards. The other leg has a length of 10x yards. What is the value of x

Algebra ->  Customizable Word Problem Solvers  -> Geometry -> SOLUTION: One leg of a right traingular piece of land has a length of 72 feet. The hypotenuse has a length of 74 yards. The other leg has a length of 10x yards. What is the value of x      Log On

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Question 870506: One leg of a right traingular piece of land has a length of 72 feet. The hypotenuse has a length of 74 yards. The other leg has a length of 10x yards. What is the value of x
Answer by JulietG(1812) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
This is one of those questions that you have to read carefully. I confess to missing that the hypotenuse was YARDS the first time around.
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In a right triangle, a%5E2+%2B+b%5E2+=+c%5E2
72%5E2 + 10x%5E2 = %2874%2A3%29%5E2
5184 + 10x%5E2 = 49284
Subtract 5184 from each side
10x%5E2 = 44100
Divide each side by 10%5E2
x%5E2=441
Take the square root of each side
x = 21 feet, which is 7 yards