SOLUTION: a garden has the shape of a right triangle with one leg 8 meters longer than the other. the hypotenuse is 8 meters less than twice the length of the shorter leg. what is the length

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Question 754441: a garden has the shape of a right triangle with one leg 8 meters longer than the other. the hypotenuse is 8 meters less than twice the length of the shorter leg. what is the length of the shorter length?

Answer by stanbon(75887) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
a garden has the shape of a right triangle with one leg 8 meters longer than the other. the hypotenuse is 8 meters less than twice the length of the shorter leg. what is the length of the shorter length?
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Let shorter let be "x".
Other leg is "x+8"
hypotenuse is 2x-8
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Equation:
x^2 + (x+8)^2 = (2x-8)^2
x^2 + x^2 + 16x + 64 = 4x^2 -32x + 64
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2x^2 -48x = 0
2x(x-24) = 0
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Positive solution:
x = 24 meter (shorter leg)
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Cheers,
Stan H.