The height of a parallelogram measures 5 meters more than its base. If the area of the parallelogram is 36 m2, what is the height in meters?
Let x = the measure of the base and let x + 5 = the measure of the height. Because the area of a parallelogram is base times height, after that the equation for the area of the parallelogram is x(x + 5) = 36. Multiply the left side of the equation by using the distributive property: x2 + 5x = 36; Put the equation in standard create and set it equal to zero: x2 + 5x - 36 = 0. Factor the left side of the equation: (x + 9)(x - 4) = 0. Set each factor equal to zero and solve: x + 9 = 0 or x - 4 = 0; x = -9 or x = 4. Reject the solution of -9 since a distance will not be negative. The height is 4 + 5 = 9 meters.