Question

If one leg of a right triangle has length 21 and the hypotenuse has length 53, what is the length of the other leg?

Help?!

Answer 1

Use the Pythagorean theorem: a² + b² = c²


c = hypotenuse (which means) = 53

a and b are equal to the side length
So a = 21.

Use the formula and solve.
21² + b² = 53²
441 + b² = 2809
b² = 2368
b = 48.66210024238575 or 8√37