Question

Find a and b.

Please help this is due tomorrow and I forgot how to do this!!

Answer 1

The Pythagorean Theorem

This theorem states that:

`a^2+b^2=c^2`

• a and b are two legs of a right triangle (the sides that create the right angle)
• c is the hypotenuse (the longest side)

Solving the Question

In this diagram, notice how there are two smaller triangles that create the large triangle.

To find a and b, we can look at the two small triangles instead of seeing everything as a whole.

Let the top triangle be Triangle A and the bottom triangle be Triangle B.

Triangle A

Solve for a using the Pythagorean theorem:

`a^2+b^2=c^2\\12^2+6^2=a^2\\a=√(12^2+6^2)\\a=13.42`

Triangle B

Solve for b using the Pythagorean theorem:

`a^2+b^2=c^2\\6^2+3^2=b^2\\b=√(6^2+3^2)\\b=6.71`

Answer

a = 13.42

b = 6.71