The area of a parallelogram is represented by x^2-7x-8 and its height is represented by x+1, what would the base of the parallelogram be?
I am not sure how to do this. Would you divide the area by the height?
would it be x-8
Thank you for your help
Yes. Exactly.
(x^2 -7x -8) / (x+1)
= x + (-8x -8)/(x+1)
= x -8
To find the base of a parallelogram, you need to use the formula for the area of a parallelogram, which states that the area is equal to the product of the base and the height.
In this case, you are given that the area of the parallelogram is represented by the expression x^2-7x-8, and the height is represented by x+1. So, you can set up the equation:
Area = Base * Height
x^2-7x-8 = Base * (x+1)
To find the base, you can divide both sides of the equation by (x+1):
(x^2-7x-8)/(x+1) = Base
Now, you can simplify the fraction on the left-hand side. You can do this by factoring the numerator and canceling out common factors with the denominator:
(x+1)(x-8)/(x+1) = Base
The (x+1) terms cancel out, leaving:
Base = x-8
So, you are correct! The base of the parallelogram is indeed x-8.