Question

When one leg of a right triangle has a measure of 3 units, and the other leg has a measure of 5 units, what is the length of the hypotenuse?

Answer 1

√34 units

Explanation:

For this problem, you use the Pythagorean Theorum, a^2 + b^2 = c^2. So in this case, the first leg is a, 3, and the second leg is b, 5. So you plug in 3 and 5 for a and b. From there, you get 3^2 + 5^2 = c^2. That simplifies to 9 + 25 = c^2, or 34 = c^2. Take the square root of that, and you get that the hypotenuse length is √34 units.