The sides of a right triangle are a, a+d and a+2d with a and d both positive. What is the value of a:d?
Since a and d are both positive, and these are sides of a right triangle, a + 2d must be the hypotenuse.
Pythagorean Theorem: (a)2 + (a + d)2 = (a + 2d)2
---> a2 + a2 + 2ad + d2 = a2 + 4ad + 4d2
---> a2 - 2ad - 3d2 = 0
---> (a - 3d)(a + d) = 0
---> Either a = 3d or a = -d
---> Since a and d are both positive, a cannot equal -d.
---> When a = 3d ---> a/d = 3