Question

The leg of a right triangle is 8 ft in length while

the hypotenuse is 15 ft in length. Find the missing
side of the triangle. Write the answer in simplified
radical form

Answer 1

`√(161)` ft

Explanation:

According to the pythagorean theorem, in a right-angle triangle, the sum of of the squared legs is equal to the hypotenuse squared.

In simpler words, if we have legs
`a` and
`b`, as well as hypotenuse
`c`, then
`a^2 + b^2 = c^2`.

In our case, we know that
`a = 8` and
`c = 15`, therefore, we should try and find b.

`8^2 + b^2 = 15^2\\\to 64 + b^2 = 225 \text{ // Subtract by 64}\\\to b^2 = 161 \text{ // Take the square root of both sides}\\\to b = √(161)`