Question

TriangleABC is a right triangle. if AC=15 and BC=17, what is AB

Answer 1

The answer in the procedure

Explanation:

I will analyze two cases

see the attached figure to better understand the problem

case a) applying the Pythagoras Theorem

I assume that the hypotenuse is BC

`AB^(2)=BC^(2)-AC^(2)`

substitute the given values

`AB^(2)=17^(2)-15^(2)`

`AB^(2)=64`

`AB=8\ units`

case b) applying the Pythagoras Theorem

I assume that the hypotenuse is AB

`AB^(2)=BC^(2)+AC^(2)`

substitute the given values

`AB^(2)=17^(2)+15^(2)`

`AB^(2)=514`

`AB=√(514)=22.67\ units`