One leg of a right angle triangle exceeds the other leg by 4 inches. Length of the hypotenuse is 20 inches. Find the length of the shorter leg of the triangle.
12 inches
Let length of triangle legs x and x+4
Applying Pythagoras theorem,
x2+(x+4)2=(20)2
we get x = -16 and x = 12
Length can’t be negative.
Therefore, the length of a shorter side of the triangle is 12 inches.