Question

If a triangle has A as 4 and B as 13, but C, the hypotenuse, is missing, what is C? I already got to square root of 185 but i don't understand what to do because you can't simplify it, please show your work/explain it

Answer 1

C = √185 or 13.6 units.

and cannot be simplified any further because it is irrational.

Explanation:

Since the triangle has sides A = 4 units and B = 13 units. With C as its hypotenuse side, from Pythagoras' theorem C² = A² + B².

So, substituting A and B into the equation, we have

C² = 4² + 13²

C² = 16 + 169

C² = 185

taking square root of both sides, we have

√C² = √185

C = √185

C cannot be simplified any further because it is irrational. It is best expressed as √185 which is a surd. C could also be expressed as a decimal. So using your calculator and taking √185, C = √185 = 13.605 ≅ 13.6 units.