Question

A piece of wire 40cm is bent to form a right-angled triangle whose hypotenuse is 17cm long. Find the lengths of the other two sides of the triangle

Answer 1

a+b = 23.....(i)
a² + b² =289....(ii)              M1
Substitute (i) in (ii)
a² + (23 − a)2 =289
a2 + 529 − 46a + a2 =289
2a² − 46a + 240 =0
  a² − 23a +120 =0              
  a2 − 8a − 15a + 120 = 0     -Attempt to solve correctly
  a(a − 8) −15(a−8) = 0a=15 or 8
              b=8  or 15