Final answer:
The student needs to solve a quadratic equation to find the base and height of a triangle using the area formula and the given relationship between height and base. The solution involves substitution, expansion, and application of the quadratic formula or factoring.
Step-by-step explanation:
The problem involves finding the base and height of a triangular front of an A-frame cabin based on its given area and a relationship between the height and base. It's a typical quadratic equation problem found in the high school mathematics curriculum when dealing with geometry and algebra.
To find the base (b) and height (h) of the triangle, we first use the area formula of a triangle A = 1/2 × base × height. We know that the area (A) is 189 ft² and that the height (h) is 1 foot less than twice the base, so h = 2b - 1. Substituting h into the area formula, we get 189 = 1/2 × b × (2b - 1). Solving this quadratic equation, we find the values for the base (b) and substitute back to find the height (h).
The process entails expanding the equation, moving all terms to one side to set the equation to zero, and then using the quadratic formula or factoring to find the value of b. Once the base is found, we use the relationship h = 2b - 1 to determine the height.