The diagonal of a rectangular chocolate cake is 60 cm more than the shorter side. If the longer side is 30 cm more than the shorter side, find the dimensions of the chocolate cake.
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Since all of the angles of a rectangular cake are 9 0 ∘ , we can draw a right triangle with sides of length x , x + 3 0 and x + 6 0 .
Via the Pythagorean Theorem , we have x 2 + ( x + 3 0 ) 2 = ( x + 6 0 ) 2 , which simplifies to x 2 − 6 0 x − 2 7 0 0 = 0 , so by the Quadratic Equation or by Factoring Polynomials , we can find x = − 3 0 , 9 0 . We take the positive solution, so the dimensions of the rectangle are 90 by 120.
Remark: We can avoid some of the Algebra if we note that x , x + 3 0 , x + 6 0 form an Arithmetic Progression , and the only primitive Pythagorean Triple which has that property is 3 , 4 , 5 . Thus, this triangle has edge lengths that are 30 times a 3-4-5 triangle, so the rectangle dimensions are 90 by 120.