Answer:
13 cm
Explanation:
The length of the hypotenuse `c` of a right triangle can be found using the Pythagorean theorem, which states that in a right triangle, the square of the length of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. The theorem is often written as:
`a² + b² = c²`
In this problem, you've provided the lengths of the two sides, `a` and `b`, as 5 cm and 12 cm respectively. We can substitute these values into the Pythagorean theorem to find `c`.
Let's start the calculation:
`(5 cm)² + (12 cm)² = c²`
`25 cm² + 144 cm² = c²`
`169 cm² = c²`
Taking the square root of both sides to solve for `c`, we find:
`c = √169 cm`
`c = 13 cm`
So, the length of the hypotenuse is 13 cm.