Question

In a right triangle, the length of one of the legs is 5 units, and the length of the hypotenuse is 13 units. Find the length of the other leg and choose a method to solve it.

Answer 1

To solve this problem, you can use the Pythagorean theorem. Let "a" represent the length of one leg, "b" the length of the other leg, and "c" the length of the hypotenuse. According to the Pythagorean theorem:

a^2 + b^2 = c^2

In our case:

5^2 + b^2 = 13^2

Calculating:

25 + b^2 = 169

Now, subtract 25 from both sides of the equation:

b^2 = 169 - 25
b^2 = 144

To find the length of the other leg, take the square root of 144:

b = √144
b = 12

So, the length of the other leg is 12 units.