SOLUTION: greg is making a table with a trapezoidal surface with the longer side being 6 feet long and the height of the trapezoid being 4 feet. if the total area is to be 20 square feet,

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Question 1100652: greg is making a table with a trapezoidal surface with the longer side being 6 feet long and the height of the trapezoid being 4 feet. if the total area is to be 20 square feet, find the shorter length side.
Answer by ikleyn(52914) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
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The area of a trapezoid is half of the sum of its bases lengths multiplied by the height measure:


Area = %28%28a%2Bb%29%2F2%29%2Ah,   or

%28%286+%2B+b%29%2F2%29%2A4 = 20.


Solve for "b":  6 + b = %2820%2A2%29%2F4 = 20/2 = 10  ====>  b = 10-a = 10 - 6 = 4.


Answer.  The other base is 4 ft long.