The longest side of the right triangle is the hypotenuse and it is √61 units. The other legs of the triangle is x unit and (x + 1) units.
From Pythagoras theorem for right angle triangle, the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the square of the other sides of the triangle. This implies that:
(√61)² = (x)² + (x + 1)²
x² + x² + 2x + 1 = 61
2x² + 2x + 1 - 61 = 0
2x² + 2x -60 = 0
Dividing through by 2 gives:
x² + x - 30 = 0
x² + 6x - 5x - 30 = 0
x(x + 6) -5(x + 6) = 0
(x-5)(x+6) = 0
x-5 = 0 or x+6 = 0
x = 5 or x = -6
Since the length of a side cannot be negative, x = 5 units
