The lengths of the legs of a right triangle are 8 inches and 9 inches. How many inches long is the hypotenuse? Round to the nearest inch.
Using the Pythagorean theorem, we can find the length of the hypotenuse:
a^2 + b^2 = c^2
8^2 + 9^2 = c^2
64 + 81 = c^2
145 = c^2
Taking the square root of 145, we get:
c = √145
c ≈ 12 inches
Therefore, the length of the hypotenuse is approximately 12 inches.