Question

The sides of a right angled triangle are of lengths x, (x + 7) and, (x + 8) cm, where x is a positive integer.

Show that x2 - 2x - 15 = 0
hence find the lengths of the sides of the triangle

Answer 1

x2 - 2x - 15 = 0

(x - 5)(x + 3) = 0

x = 5 or x = -3

Since x is a positive integer, x = 5

Therefore, the sides of the triangle are 5 cm, 12 cm and 13 cm.