Question

A student is asked to find the length of the hypotenuse of a right triangle. The length of one leg is 30 ​centimeters, and the length of the other leg is 26 centimeters. The student incorrectly says that the length of the hypotenuse is 7.5 centimeters.

Find the length of the hypotenuse of the right triangle to the nearest tenth of a centimeter.

Answer 1

≈ 39.7 cm

Explanation:

Using Pythagoras' identity in the right triangle.

The square on the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares on the 2 legs.

let h be hypotenuse , then

h² = 30² + 26² = 900 + 676 = 1576 ( take square root of both sides )

h =
`√(1576)` ≈ 39.7 cm ( to the nearest tenth )