Question

The triangles are similar.


What is the value of x?

Answer 1

x = 13

Explanation:

There are two ways to do this. You could use the Pythagorean Theorem because you are given that the triangles are right angled triangles.

Method One

a^2 + b^2 = c^2

a = 5

b = 12

c = ?

c^2 = 5^2 + 12^2

c^2 = 25 + 144

c^2 = 169

sqrt(c^2) = sqrt(169)

c = 13

x = 13

Method Two

You can do this problem with similar triangles.

48/12 = 52/x Cross multiply

48x = 12 * 52 Combine the right

48x = 624 Divide by 48

48x/48 = 624/48 Do the division

x = 13