Problema Solution

A wire of length 100cm is cut in to two parts and each part is bent to form a square. If the sum of squares is 425cm^ find the lengths of the side of the two squares.

Answer provided by our tutors

Let


x = the length of the side of the first square, x>0


y = the length of the side of the second square, y>0


A wire of length 100cm is cut in to two parts:


4x + 4y = 100 divide both sides by 4


x + y = 100


y = 25 - x


we will assume that the sum of the areas of the two square is 425 cm^2:


x^2 + y^2 = 425


plug y = 25 - x into the last equation:


x^2 + (25 - x)^2 = 425


by solving the above equation we find:


x1 = 20 cm


x2 = 5 cm


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for x = 20 cm y = 25 - 20 = 5 cm


for x = 5 cm y = 25 - 5 = 20 cm


thus we conclude the lengths of the sides of the two squares are 20 cm and 5 cm.