Question

A brace for a shelf has the shape of a right triangle. It’s hypotenuse is 12 inches long and the two legs are equal in length. How long are the legs of the triangle

Answer 1

The sides of a right triangle can be represented by the equation a^2+b^2=c^2, where c is the hypotenuse and a and b are the legs.

Since both legs are the same in this equation, we can pick one variable to combine both and add the terms. The equation would become:

x^4=c^2

We know c=12 so we can plug in and solve for x:

x^4=12^2

x^4=144

x=3.4641

The legs of the triangle are about 3.4641 in long.

Hope this helps!!