Problem page the longer leg of a right triangle is 1ft longer than the shorter leg. the hypotenuse is 9ft longer than the shorter leg. find the side lengths of the triangle.
Accepted Solution
A:
Hello,
To solve this problem we want to use the Pythagorean Theorem. The pythagorean theorem states that for a 90° triangle,
[tex] a^{2} + b^{2} = c^{2} [/tex]
where a and b represent the two legs of the triangle, and c represents the hypotenuse.
Let a = the longer leg and b = the shorter leg. If the longer leg of the triangle is 1 foot longer than the shorter leg, then a = b +1.
If the hypotenuse is 9 feet longer than the shorter leg, then c = b + 9. Using the equations we created, we can plug them into the Pythagorean Theorem to solve for a, b, and c.
Doing this, we have: [tex] a^{2} + b^{2} = c^{2} [/tex] [tex] (b+1)^{2} + b = (b+9)^{2} [/tex]