The longer leg of a right triangle is 2 cm more than the shorter leg. The length of the hypotenuse is 4 cm more than the shorter leg. Find the length of the hypotenuse.

Question

I do not understand how to solve this word problem.

Answer 1

x^2 + (x+2)^2 = (x+4)^2

x^2 + x^2 + 4x + 4 = x^2 + 8x + 16

2x^2 + 4x + 4 = x^2 + 8x + 16

x^2 - 4x - 12 = 0

( x - 6)(x + 2 ) = 0

x +2 = 0 ---> x = -2 which results in zero measures

x-6 = 0 ---> x =6

leg1 = 6

leg2 = 8

hypotenuse = 10