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Rearrange the Pythagorean theorem formula to solve for "a." What is the remaining leg of a right triangle if the hypotenuse is 13 units and the other leg is 4 units? Round your answer to the nearest hundredth.

a) a = 12.81 units
b) a = 5 units
c) a = 13 units
d) a = 3 units

2 Answers

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Answer: None, the answer is 12.37 units

Step-by-step explanation: 13^2-4^2=153, and the square root of that is approximately 12.37 Did you do something wrong? I also used elimination, it can't be b c or d, so my best guess is a

User KeithS
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Final answer:

To find the remaining leg of a right triangle using the Pythagorean theorem, rearrange the equation a² + b² = c² to solve for 'a'. Substitute the given values into the formula and calculate.

Step-by-step explanation:

To solve for 'a' in the Pythagorean theorem formula, rearrange the equation a² + b² = c². Subtract b² from both sides to isolate a², then take the square root of both sides to solve for a. The equation becomes a = √(c² - b²).

In this case, the hypotenuse (c) is 13 units and the other leg (b) is 4 units. Substituting these values into the equation, we get a = √(13² - 4²) ≈ 12.81 units.

Therefore, the remaining leg of the right triangle is approximately 12.81 units.

User Mu Qiao
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