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Basic Algebra 2 Help?

A landscaper is designing a flower garden in the shape of a trapezoid. She wants the length of the shorter base to be 3 yards greater than the height, and the length of the longer base to be 5 yards greater than the height. For what height will the garden have an area of 360 square yards? Round to the nearest tenth of a yard. # 17.1 yards # 34.2 yards # 39.2 yards # 152.6 yards

Public Comments

1. If we let the height be h, then the area of the trapezoid is A=1/2 * (short base + long base) * h =1/2(h+3+h+5)*h =1/2(2h+8)*h =(h+4)*h =h^2+4h The area is 360 sq.yds, so h^2+4h=360 h^2+4h+4=364 (h+2)^2=364 h+2=sqrt(364) [We don't consider the negative because you can never have a negative height.] h=sqrt(4*91)-2 =2sqrt(91)-2 ~17.1 yards