What formula do I need to use to find the missing length of right triangles? Please help.
a^2 + b^2 = c^2
To find the missing length of a right triangle, you can use the Pythagorean theorem. The Pythagorean theorem states that in a right triangle, the square of the length of the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides.
The formula you need to use is:
a^2 + b^2 = c^2
where:
- a and b are the lengths of the two sides that are perpendicular to each other (the legs of the triangle).
- c is the length of the hypotenuse.
So, to find the missing length, you need to have the lengths of at least two sides of the triangle, including one of the legs or the hypotenuse. Then, you can rearrange the formula to solve for the missing length.
For example, if you know the lengths of the two legs of a right triangle and want to find the hypotenuse, you can rearrange the formula as follows:
c^2 = a^2 + b^2
Then, you can simply take the square root of both sides to solve for c:
c = √(a^2 + b^2)
On the other hand, if you know the length of one leg and the hypotenuse, and want to find the length of the other leg, you can rearrange the formula as follows:
a^2 + b^2 = c^2
Then, you can isolate the term you want to find by subtracting the squared length of the known side from both sides:
b^2 = c^2 - a^2
Finally, take the square root of both sides to find the length of the missing leg:
b = √(c^2 - a^2)
So, depending on the information you have, you can rearrange the formula accordingly to calculate the missing length of a right triangle.