It's three rectangles and two congruent triangles.
A = 2×3 + 2×4 + 2×6 + 2(1/2)(6)(2) =38
Answer: 38 square inches
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That's probably what they want you to answer. Now let's call horse hockey on this problem.
We see the right triangles have legs 3 and 4 so their opposite side must be 5, not 6 as written. If we erase the 6 and the height 2 we get a consistent problem and an area of 2×3 + 2×4 + 2×5 + 2(1/2)(3)(4) = 36 square inches.
3(x + 8) = 17....distribute the 3 thru the parenthesis 3x + 24 = 17...subtract 24 from both sides 3x = 17 - 24 3x = -7...divide both sides by 3 x = -7/3 or -2 1/3 <===
