Question

One base of a trapezoid is five times as long as the other. The height is the average of the two bases. The area is 441 square units. Find the length of the longer base.

Answer 1

The length of the longer base he 35 units

Explanation:

Here, we want to find the length of the longer base of the trapezoid

Mathematically, we can find the area using the formula;

1/2( a + b) h

where a is the shorter base

b is the longer base

h is the height

Let the shorter base be x

The other base is 5 times this length and that makes 5 * x = 5x

Height is the average of both bases;

(x + 5x)/2 = 6x/2 = 3x

Substituting these in the formula, we have ;

1/2(x + 5x)3x = 441

3x(6x) = 882

18x^2 = 882

x^2 = 882/18

x^2 = 49

x^2 = 7^2

x = 7

But the longer base is 5x and that will be 5 * 7 = 35 units