The hypotenuse of a right triangle measures 15cm and one of its legs measures 12cm. Find the measure of the other leg. If necessary, round to the nearest tenth.Answer: □cm
Q. The hypotenuse of a right triangle measures 15cm and one of its legs measures 12cm. Find the measure of the other leg. If necessary, round to the nearest tenth.Answer: □cm
Identify sides and formula: Identify the known sides of the right triangle and the Pythagorean theorem formula.We know the hypotenuse c is 15 cm and one leg a is 12 cm. The Pythagorean theorem states that in a right triangle, the square of the length of the hypotenuse c is equal to the sum of the squares of the lengths of the other two sides a and b.Formula: a2+b2=c2
Plug known values: Plug the known values into the Pythagorean theorem to find the length of the other leg b. We have a=12 cm and c=15 cm. So, we need to solve for b. 122+b2=152
Calculate squares: Calculate the square of the known leg and the hypotenuse.122=144152=225
Subtract squares: Subtract the square of the known leg a from the square of the hypotenuse c to find the square of the other leg b.225−144=b2b2=81
Find length of leg: Find the length of the other leg b by taking the square root of b2.b2=81b=9