The sides of a right angled triangle are in arithmetic progression. If the triangle has an area of 24 sq. units, then what is the length of its smallest side?
Let the sides are a - d, a and a + d. Then,
a (a - d) = 48 sq. units (from eqn. of area of triangle)
and (a−d)2+a2=(a+d)2 . . .(Pythagoras)
⇒a2−2ad+d2+a2=a2+2ad+d2
⇒a2=4ad
⇒a=4d
Thus, a=8, d=2
Hence, a−d=6 units