Question

The hypotenuse of a right triangle is 6 meters long, and one leg is 2 meters long. How long is the other leg? (Round to one decimal place.)

Answer 1

To determine the length of the other leg of the triangle, we would apply the pythagorean theorem which states that

Hypotenuse^2 = one leg^2 + other leg^2

From the information given,

hypotenuse = 6

one leg = 2

Thus, we have

`\begin{gathered} 6^2=2^2+otherleg^2 \\ 36=4+otherleg^2 \\ \text{other leg}^2\text{ = 36 - 4 = 32} \\ \text{other leg = }\sqrt[\square]{32} \\ \text{other leg = 5}.66 \end{gathered}`

The length of the other leg is 5.7 meters to one decimal place