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One leg of a right triangle is 12, and the hypotenuse is 20.

The length of the other leg is ___

User Skav
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1 Answer

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We can ise Pythagorean triplet which is ( 12 , 16 , 20 )

Therefore the answer is 16.

Explanation:

Or we can use Pythagoras theorem , stated as ;

( hyp )^2 = ( adj )^2 + ( opp )^2

hyp ( hypotenuse ) = 20

We can assume the adj ( adjacent ) = 12

By substituting the values ,

20^2 = 12^2 + ( adj )^2

400 = 144 + ( adj )^2

400 - 144 = ( adj )^2

256 = ( adj )^2

Take the square root of both sides

✓256 = adj

16 = adj

Therefore the length of the other leg which is the adjacent( adj ) side is 16.

User Eme Eme
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