Question

The leg of a right triangle is 2 units and the hypotenus is 3 units. What is the length, in units, of the other leg?

Answer 1

`x = √(5)` units

Step-by-step explanation

Let the other leg be x units.

According to the Pythagoras Theorem, the sum of the squares of the two shorter legs should add up to the square of the hypotenuse.

This implies that,

`{x}^(2) + {2}^(2) = {3}^(2)`

`{x}^(2) + 4=9`

Group the constant terms,

`{x}^(2)=9 - 4`

`{x}^(2)=5`

Take square root.

`x = √(5)`