I was having a problem with the following question, and could use some help:
If a rectangle with a perimeter of 48 inches is equal in area to a right triangle with legs of 12 inches and 24 inches, what is the rectangle's diagonal?
The answer to the above question is $12\sqrt{2}$. Frankly I am a bit confused by a part of the question stating
in area to a right triangle with legs of 12 inches and 24 inches
Is the area of rectangle equal to the area of the triangle? Frankly, the phrase "equal to triangle" doesn't say much. And 12 and 24 the lengths of which sides of a triangle? Am I missing something here or are my concerns valid?
Edit: After reading the suggestions posted here, here is what I did, and I am getting a square instead of a rectangle:
$2x + 2y = 48 \qquad (A)$ $xy = 144 \qquad (B)$ so $x=144/y$, inserting in $(A)$ I get $x=12$. So is this actually a square?