The three sides of a right-angled triangle are x, x+1 and 5. Find x and the area, if the longest side is 5.
The hypotenuse = 5
x2 + (x+1)2 = 52 (Pythagoras' Theorem)
x2 + x2 + 2x + 1 = 25
-25 => x2 + x2 + 2x - 24 = 0
2x2 + 2x - 24 = 0
x2 + x - 12 = 0
(x - 3)(x + 4) = 0
(x + 4) = 0 or (x - 3) = 0
x = -4 or x = 3
x = 3;
Area = 1/2 x 3 x 4 = 6cm2