Question

Use the formulas a = x^2 – y^2, b = 2xy, c = x^2 + y^2 to answer this question.

One leg of a right triangle has length 11 and all sides are whole numbers. Find the lengths of the other two sides.

Answer 1

Notice how 6^2 - 5^2 = 36 - 25 = 11

so we see that x = 6 and y = 5. Use these values to find b and c

Answer 2

I dont understand

Answer 3

the formulas a = x^2 – y^2, b = 2xy, c = x^2 + y^2 are used to find a,b,c which are sides of the right triangle
c is the longest side (hypotenuse)

Answer 4

a = 11 ---> x^2 - y^2 = 11

doing a bit of trial and error, you can find that x = 6 and y = 5 make the equation x^2 - y^2 = 11 true