Emil's backpack weighs 6 ⅜ pounds. He removes a book that weighs ¾ pound. Then he removes a book that weighs ½ pound. How much does Emil's backpack weigh now? Use any method to solve this problem. You must show all your work.
Then, explain your reasoning and the steps you took to solve the problem.

geometry: triangles

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call the larger triangle abc

then the smaller triangle cde is similar to abc (all angles are equal, aaa).  

ab is the side that is 36, and we wish to find de, the side corresponding to ab

area_cde = area_abc - area_cde --> area_abc / area_cde = 2

let x=length of de

ratio of areas = (ratio of sides)^2

+2+=+%2836%2fx%29%5e2+

+2+=+1296%2fx%5e2+

++x%5e2+=+1296%2f2+=+648+

25.45584

11.2

step-by-step explanation:

when doing tangent the tangent of the angle is equal to the opposite side from the angle over the adjacent side to the angle.

tan43 = x / 12

move 12 over by multiplying each side by 12

12tan43 = x

x = about 11.2