Set up help

Question

One leg of a right triangle is 35 inches longer than the smaller leg, and the hypotenuse is 40 inches longer than the smaller leg. Find the lengths of the sides of the triangle.

Answer 1

Set up

x²+(35+x)² =(40+x)²

This obtained by the Pythagorean theorem

x is the length of the smaller side

then 35+x is the length of the longest side

and 40+x is the hypoethenus