Mikaly bought five skirts at $x each. three of the five skirts came with a matching top for an additional $9 each. write and simplify an expression that represents the total cost of her purchase

the perimeter is increased by a factor of 2

we have three similar triangles, because each has a right angle and shares an angle.   let's write the angles in order: opposite to short leg, long leg, hypotenuse.

cab similar to bad similar to cbd

or as ratios,

ca: ab: cb = ba: ad: bd = cb: bd: cd

we also know

ac = ad + cd

(ad+cd): ab: cb = ba: ad: bd = cb: bd: cd

(ad+cd)/cb=cb/cd

we have cb=6, ad=5 and seek x=cd.

we reject the negative root and conclude x=4

answer: 4

answer: 4  

the square root of 16 is 4. it is a very simple mathematic concept. a square root when a number multiplied by itself will result in a number. here, the number 16 comes when 4 is multiplied by 4. hence the square root of 16 is 4. you can always figure out a square root by the inverse operation of squaring.