Question

The hypotenuse of a right triangle measures 16cm and one of its legs measures 9cm what is the measure of the other leg

Answer 1

other leg ≈ 13.23 cm

Explanation:

using Pythagoras' identity in the right triangle

a² = b² + c²

where a is the hypotenuse and a, b the legs

let x be the measure of the other leg, then

16² = 9² + x²

256 = 81 + x² ( subtract 81 from both sides )

175 = x² ( take square root of both sides )

`√(175)` =
`√(x^2)`

13.2287.. = x , that is

x ≈ 13.23 cm ( to 2 decimal places )