How much did liam pay for the posters someone me

we have three similar triangles, because each has a right angle and shares an angle.   let's write the angles in order: opposite to short leg, long leg, hypotenuse.

cab similar to bad similar to cbd

or as ratios,

ca: ab: cb = ba: ad: bd = cb: bd: cd

we also know

ac = ad + cd

(ad+cd): ab: cb = ba: ad: bd = cb: bd: cd

(ad+cd)/cb=cb/cd

we have cb=6, ad=5 and seek x=cd.

we reject the negative root and conclude x=4

answer: 4

the given 6 = w/p is equivalent to 6p = w, where w is the total area of the walls and p is the area covered by a single can of paint.

knowing that 6 cans of paint will be needed, 6p = w becomes 6(6) = w = 36.   this tells us that the total area to be painted is 36 square units.