Essay: Show all work. A gardener wants to create a triangular garden in the shape of a right triangle with shortest side length x – 5y ft. and the middle length side x + 6y ft. What is an algebraic expression for the area of the garden? Be sure to multiply this out and express in simplest correct mathematical form, including units.

Question

anonymous · Answer

|dw:1329457978275:dw|  You have side 1 and side 2 and side 3 that make up the triangle. But if you ignore side 3 you can imagine a rectangle (the extra dotted lines). The area of a rectangle is the side times side. This would also be Side 1 times side 2.  The half the area of the rectangle is the area of the triangle. So (1/2)*Side1*Side2=Area of triangle. So just multiple (1/2)(x-5y)(x+6y) to get your answer.