Question

How do I get the unknown sides of the triangle?

Answer 1

Given a right-angle triangle ABC as shown below

Given two known sides of the triangle, the third side can be found using Pythagoras theorem.

From the triangle above, AB is the hypothenuse, and using pythagoras, we have the following:

`AB^2=AC^2+BC^2`

From the given triangle, the hypothenuse is 5cm, and the unknown side be x. By Pythagoras theorem, we have:

`5^2=4^2+x^2`

Let us solve for x as shown below:

`\begin{gathered} 25=16+x^2 \\ 16+x^2=25 \\ x^2=25-16 \\ x^2=9 \\ x=\sqrt[]{9} \\ x=3 \end{gathered}`

Hence, the unknown side is 3cm