Question

The hypotenuse of a right triangle is four times the length of one of the legs. The length of the other leg is 1500⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯√ feet. Find the lengths of the leg and hypotenuse.

Answer 1

Explanation:

So this is just playing with the pythagorean theorem

a^2 + b^2 = c^2 with a and b as legs and c as the hypotenuse.

Let's say a is equal to 1500 so then c is 4 times b

1500^2 + b^2 = (4b)^2 Now we just treat this like a normal algebraic expression

2,250,000 = 16b^2 - b^2

2,250,000 = 15b^2

150,000 = b^2

sqrt(150,000) = b

100sqrt(15) = b

You can check this now.

1500^2 + sqrt(150,000)^2 = c^2

sqrt(2,250,000 + 150,000) = c

sqrt(2,400,000) = c

400sqrt(15) = c Which fits the requirement of c = 4b