The perimeter of the parallelogram is 48 cm. Find the sides of the parallelogram if one side is 3 cm larger than the other.

In a parallelogram, the opposite sides are equal. Let’s denote one side of the parallelogram as a, and the other as b. The perimeter of the parallelogram will be:
P = a + b + a + b = 2 * a + 2 * b.
By condition:
2 * a + 2 * b = 48 cm.
It is known from the condition that one side is 3 cm larger than the other. Let side a be larger than side b:
a = 3 + b.
Thus, we have obtained a system of linear equations with two unknowns:
2 * a + 2 * b = 48;
a = 3 + b.
We substitute the expression a into the first equation of the system:
2 * (3 + b) + 2 * b = 48;
6 + 2 * b + 2 * b = 48;
4 * b = 48 – 6;
4 * b = 42;
b = 42/4;
b = 10.5 cm.
Find the length of side a:
a = 3 + b = 3 + 10.5 = 13.5 (cm).
Answer: a = 13.5 cm, b = 10.5 cm.