SOLUTION: The base of a triangle exceeds the height by 4 meters. If the area is 126 square meters, find the length of the base and the height of the triangle.

Algebra ->  Customizable Word Problem Solvers  -> Misc -> SOLUTION: The base of a triangle exceeds the height by 4 meters. If the area is 126 square meters, find the length of the base and the height of the triangle.      Log On

Ad: Over 600 Algebra Word Problems at edhelper.com


    

Question 1031662: The base of a triangle exceeds the height by 4 meters. If the area is 126 square meters, find the length of the base and the height of the triangle.
Answer by fractalier(6550) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
The area of a triangle is given by
A+=+%281%2F2%29bh
In our problem, b = h + 4 and A = 126...let's plug that in and solve for the height...we get
126+=+%281%2F2%29%28h%2B4%29h
252+=+h%5E2+%2B+4h
h%5E2+%2B+4h+-+252+=+0
We can factor this and get
%28h%2B18%29%28h-14%29+=+0
so that
h = 14 m and that means the base is
b = h+4 = 18 m