You sure the new area is 9?:hmm:I'm getting a different figure! We know that a= 5√2 => 7. Therefore, Height is 7 and Base is 7 too. Since the line is cut 2 inches from the hypotenuse, H= 7 -2= 5, and Base= 7 - 2= 5. This way, the area of the new triangle would be 1/2 5*5= 12.5...
Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is what I'm getting and this is how I understood the question.
However, with the second piece of information (2), I'm getting 9. (work: 40% 10= 6...So, the hypotenuse is 6. To get either of the two legs, we use this formula L=1/2 H√2, which gives us 4.2 (L = 1/2 6 √2 = 4.2). So, this means 1/2*4.2*4.2= 9.
Hummmm, I'm not sure why I'm getting two conflicting answers, although with either piece of information ( 1 or 2) we can get the new area. I know it's a DS question, but still it's good to figure out how it works.
I was wondering if ROUNDING-UP had a role to pay in this discrepancy !