Question

The vertices of a right triangle are (3, 2), (5, 3), and (5, y). What is the value of y? 3 2 3 5

Answer 1

y = 2 or -2

Explanation:

We can take the given points to define a leg or the hypotenuse. If they define one leg of the triangle, the other leg is perpendicular at (3, 2) and intersects x=5 at y = -2.

If the given points define the hypotenuse, then one leg is along the line x=5, and the other leg meets it at y = 2.

Among the answer choices, the latter is the only one present: y = 2.