213k views
16 votes
Findx.
Assume the middle line is a midsegment in the problems below:

HELPPPPPP

Findx. Assume the middle line is a midsegment in the problems below: HELPPPPPP-example-1

1 Answer

6 votes

Answer: x = 12

midsegment is 16 units long

bottom side is 32 units long

===============================================

Work Shown:

The midsegment 2x-8 is parallel to the bottom side 2x+8

The bottom side is twice as long compared to the midsegment (since the midsegment is half the length of the bottom side).

We can say

bottom side = 2*(midsegment)

2x+8 = 2*(2x-8)

2x+8 = 4x-16

2x-4x = -16-8

-2x = -24

x = -24/(-2)

x = 12

--------------------

Extra info:

Now that we know x, we can find the length of those segments

midsegment = 2x-8 = 2*12-8 = 24-8 = 16

bottom side = 2x+8 = 2*12+8 = 24+8 = 32

Note the bottom side (32) is exactly twice as long compared to the midsegment (16). This confirms we have the correct x value.

User Tejas Shetty
by
4.6k points