Question

The hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle is 17 cm and the difference between other two sides is 7 cm. Find the other two unknown sides.

Answer 1

Step-by-step explanation:

let the two sides be x and x-7.

In triangle ABC,

AB^2+BC^2=AC^2(pythagoras theorem )

(x)^2+(x-7)^2=(17)^2

x^2+x^2-14x+49=289

2x^2-14x-240=0

2 (x^2-7x-120)=0

x^2-7x-120=0

x^2+8x-15x-120=0

x (x+8)-15 (x+8)=0

(x-15)(x+8)=0

x=(15,-8)

• AB is 15 cm and BC is 8cm.