Quadratic Equations

Question

The hypotenuse of a right triangle measures 20cm. The sum of the lengths of the other two sides is 28cm. find the lengths of these two sides.

Answer 1

If you know the triangle is a right triangle, that means that it must follow the pythagorean theorem: a²+b²=c². They tell you that the hypotenuse (c) is 20. We are not given the length of the legs, but we know that their sum is 28. Let's say that leg #1 (a) has a length of x. That means we can represent the length of leg #2 (b) as 28-x. Now we can plug everything back into the pythagorean theorem: x² + (28-x)²=20². Once you solve this equation you can plug in for x to find the lengths of the legs.