If the hypotenuse of a right triangle is a=3cm, so A=90 degrees, and the square of the sum of the other two sides is 17, what is the area of the triangle?
so basically, (b+c)^2=17
I think you are supposed to use trigonometry to solve it but I don't know how.
"the square of the sum of the other two sides is 17"
---> (b+c)^2=17 , correct, you had that
but also:
b^2 + c^2 = 3^2 = 9
from (b+c)^2=17
b^2 + c^2 + 2bc = 17
9 + 2bc = 17
bc = 4
area = (1/2)bc = 2 units^2