The length of the one of the legs of a right triangle is 8m and the hypotenuse is 12m

Mathematics · High School · Tue Nov 03 2020

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Given:

Length of one leg of a right triangle: 8m

Hypotenuse of the right triangle: 12m

Find the missing length.

Solution:

In order to find the missing length of the triangle we used the Pythagorean theorem

c^2 = a^2 + b^2

a = side of the right triangle

b = side of the right triangle

c = hypotenuse

Since we are already given the hypotenuse and the one side of the triangle, we solve for b.

b = √(c^2-a^2)

b =√((12)^2 - (8)^2)

b = √(144-64)

b=√80 or 8.94