Question 148013
One side of a rectangular stage is 2 meters longer than the other.If the diagonal is 10 meters, then what are the lenghths of the sides?
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Let W=width of rectangular stage
W+2 = length of rectangular stage
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Now, since the we have a "right angle" at the corner of the rectangular stage, we can apply Pythagorean theorem:
W^2 + (W+2)^2 = 10^2
W^2 + W^2 + 4W + 4 = 100
2W^2 + 4W - 96 = 0
dividing through by 2:
W^2 + 2W - 48 = 0
factoring:
(W-6)(W+8) = 0
The two solutions are {6, -8}
We can toss out the negative solution since that does not make sense.
Therefore we have:
W= 6 meters (width)
W+2 = 6+2 = 8 meters (length)