Question

The hypotenuse of a right triangle is 12, and one of the legs is 4. Find the length of the missing length to the nearest hundred. Please help! ☺️ 25 points!

Answer 1

Use the Pythagorean theorem:

If c is the hypotenuse of right triangle and a and b are of the legs then:

a² + b² = c².

We have:
a = 4; c= 12

substitute


`4^2+b^2=12^2\\\\16+b^2=144\ \ \ |-16\\\\b^2=128\to b=√(128)\\\\b=√(64\cdot2)\\\\b=√(64)\cdot\sqrt2\\\\\boxed{b=8\sqrt2\approx11.31}`