Question 56952
A rectangle surmounted by an equilateral triangle.  If the height of the rectangle is 3 meters less than a side of the triangle, and the perimeter of the figure is 34 meters, determine the length of a side of the triangle.
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I picture this as a rectangle with a triangle on top of it.  Perhaps if you drew a rough diagram of this it would make sense to you.
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The measure of one side of the triangle is also the measure of the side of the rectangle. (It's an equilateral triangle)
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Let s = length of one side of the triangle.(It's also one side of the rectangle)
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The perimeter would be:
s + s + (s-3) + s + (s-3) = 34
5s - 6 = 34
5s = 34 + 6
s = 40/5
s = 8