contestada

The shortest side of a right triangle measures 3 m. The lengths of the other two sides are consecutive integers. Find the lengths of the other two sides.
DOOD
The length of the second side (shorter than the third side) is

Respuesta :

9514 1404 393

Answer:

  • 2nd side: 4 m
  • 3rd side: 5 m

Step-by-step explanation:

You can answer this directly from your knowledge that the lengths (3, 4, 5) form a right triangle.

If you study Pythagorean triples, you find that for an odd-length short side, the other two sides can be consecutive integers whose sum is the square of the short side. (You can see that in the solution below.) Here are a few examples:

  short side 3: Other sides are 4, 5. 4+5 = 9 = 3^2

  short side 5: Other sides are 12, 13. 12+13 = 25 = 5^2

  short side 13: Other sides are 84, 85. 84+85 = 169 = 13^2

__

Or, you can solve this making use of the Pythagorean theorem. The sum of the squares of the two sides is the square of the hypotenuse. If x is the second side, then ...

  3² +x² = (x +1)²

  3² = 2x +1 . . . . . expand the right side and subtract x²

  x = (3² -1)/2 = 4

  x+1 = 5

The second side is 4 m; the third side is 5 m.