The hypotenuse of a right triangle is 10 centimeters and one of the legs is 6 centimeters.
the leg to the very left is 6 cm and the leg to the top is 10 cm. the bottom leg has a x for unknown.
My teacher gave me the answer since I couldn't figure it out and she told me that it is 8 centimeters. And I can't figure out how to solve this question. so can someone please try to help me understand how to solve this question please??? thank you
We need to use the Pythagorean Theorem.
a^2 + b^2 = c^2
a = one leg
b = one leg
c = hypotenuse
a^2 + 6^2 = 10^2
a^2 + 36 = 100
a^2 = 100 - 36
a^2 = 64
a = 8
thank you so much mrs.sue you are a lifesaver. :D
But what does ^ mean??
You're very welcome, Dingbat.
^ means to the power of
6^2 = 6 squared
okay thank you :)
Of course! I'd be happy to help you understand how to solve this question.
To find the length of the missing leg in a right triangle, we can use the Pythagorean theorem. The Pythagorean theorem states that in a right triangle, the square of the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides.
In this case, we have the hypotenuse of the triangle as 10 centimeters and one leg as 6 centimeters. Let's call the missing leg "x" centimeters.
According to the Pythagorean theorem, we can write the following equation:
x^2 + 6^2 = 10^2
Simplifying this equation, we have:
x^2 + 36 = 100
Next, let's isolate x by subtracting 36 from both sides:
x^2 = 100 - 36
x^2 = 64
To find x, we need to take the square root of both sides:
√(x^2) = √64
x = ±8
In this case, since we're talking about the length of a side of a triangle, we can disregard the negative solution. Therefore, the length of the missing leg, x, is 8 centimeters.
So, your teacher is correct that the missing leg has a length of 8 centimeters.