If a triangle has sides of length 12 and 16, how long is the hypotenuse?
If a triangle has sides of length 12 and 16, we can use the Pythagorean theorem to find the length of the hypotenuse.
The Pythagorean theorem states that in a right triangle, the square of the length of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the lengths of the other two sides.
So, in this case, we have:
hypotenuse^2 = 12^2 + 16^2
hypotenuse^2 = 144 + 256
hypotenuse^2 = 400
Taking the square root of both sides, we find:
hypotenuse = √400
hypotenuse = 20
Therefore, the length of the hypotenuse is 20.