The length of a side of the larger square is 3 cm more than the length of a side of the smaller square. let the side of the smaller square is a cm then larger square has sides a+3 cm The sum of the area of two squares is 89 square centimeters. so a^2+(a+3)^2=89 or a^2+a^2+9+6a=89 or 2a^2+6a-80=0 or a^2+3a-40=0 or a^2+8a-5a-40=0 or a(a+8)-5(a+8)=0 or (a+8)(a-5)=0 or a+8=0=> a=-8 rejected for -ve value then (a-5=0 =>a=5 the side of the smaller square & the sides of the larger square is 3+5=8 cms ans
Basically I tested each answer choice and see if all the information matches it. Lets check how my answer is correct: We know that: The length of the bigger square is 3 more than the smaller square’s length. The areas of both squares add up to 89 cm^2 length of the SMALLER square is: 5 cm length of the LARGER square: 5 + 3 = 8 cm
