SOLUTION: one leg of a right triangle if 1 foot less than twice the other. the hypotenuse if 17 feet. find the lengths of the two legs

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Question 916700: one leg of a right triangle if 1 foot less than twice the other. the hypotenuse if 17 feet. find the lengths of the two legs
Answer by ewatrrr(24785) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
x, smaller leg
x^2 + (2x-1)^2 = 289ft^2
5x^2 -4x - 288 = 0 (Tossing out the negative solution for unit measure)
x+=+%28-b+%2B-+sqrt%28+b%5E2-4%2Aa%2Ac+%29%29%2F%282%2Aa%29+
x+=+%284%2B-+sqrt%28+5776+%29%29%2F%2810%29+
x+=+%284%2B-+sqrt%28+76+%29%29%2F%2810%29+
x = 8ft and Larger leg is 15ft 2%2A8-1
...
and checking
64 + 225 = 289