Question

Say that a and b are the lengths of the legs of a right triangle and c is the length of the hypotenuse. Find b if a = 21 and c = 29.

A) b =40
B) B = 20
C) B= 10
D) B = 400

Answer 1

the answer is D. B = 400

Explanation:

Answer 2

When the triangle is a right triangle, you can use the Pythagorean theorem. The formula would be

c^2 = a^2 + b^2

If a = 21 and c=29, thus

b^2 = c^2 - a^2
b^2 = 29^2 - 21^2
b^2 = 400
b = square root (400)
b = 20 units.

Thus, the answer is D) B = 400