explanation???

Question

............/~~\.........
.........../~~~\........
...40>/~~~~\<40
........./__x__\......
......../~~~~~~\.....
60>/~~~~~~~\<60
...../~~~~~~~~\...
..../~~~~~~~~~\..
______ Y_____
Isosolese triangle
60m is how long the side is
40m is how long the side is
therefore one side equals 100 metres
i need to know what size is x and y.

the only thing that was given to me was x+y=80, which obviously means the x side and the y side both add to equal 80

answer:

since both triangles are proportional, we can say that :
40/x = 100/y
40y = 100x
and since x + y =80,
y= 80 - x
then,
40 (80 -x ) = 100 x
3200 - 40x = 100 x
3200 = 140 x
x = 22.857

substitute, x to the first equation,
40/22.857 = 100/y
1.75 = 100/y
y = 57.143



if someone asks me how did i get the answer and why did i end up with that answer, how do i explain it?????????

Answer 1

You have already done it. Why do you need to do it again?