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51. Find the length of the unknown side x of this triangle, evaluate your answer to two decimal places.

51. Find the length of the unknown side x of this triangle, evaluate your answer to-example-1
User Lkahtz
by
7.0k points

1 Answer

2 votes

Answer:

See work, below.

Explanation:

The radius of this circle is 10 and so the diameter is 20. The measure of the angle opposite side x is found as follows:

adj side

cos theta = ------------------- = 18/20. Find theta:

hypotenuse

theta = arccos 18/20 = 0.451 radian.

Now use the sine function to find x:

x x

sin 0.451 radian = ------------------- = ------------- = 0.651

hypotenuse 20

which results in x = 20(0.651) = 13.02

x = 13.02 units

I should have used the Pythagorean Theorem up front.

18² + x² = 20² becomes x² = 400 - 324 = 76, and so x = √76 ≠ 8.72

User She
by
6.2k points
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