Question 380768
Winter wheat. While finding the amount of seed needed
to plant his three square wheat fields, Hank observed that
the side of one field was 1 kilometer longer than the side
of the smallest field and that the side of the largest field
was 3 kilometers longer than the side of the smallest field.
If the total area of the three fields is 38 square kilometers,
then what is the area of each field?
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Let the side of the smallest field be "x": Area = x^2
Side of middle field is "x+1": Area = (x+1)^2
Side of largest field is "x+3": Area = (x+3)^2
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Equation:
x^2 + x^2+2x+1 + x^2+6x+9 = 38
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3x^2 + 8x + 10 = 38
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3x^2 + 8x - 18 = 0
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Positive solution:
x = 1.456
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x^2 = 2.12 
(x+1)^2 = 2.456^2 = 6.03
(x+3)^3 = 4.456^2 = 19.86
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Cheers,
Stan H.
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