Question

The leg of a right triangle is 5 units and the hypotenuse is 8 units. What is the length, in units, of the other leg of the triangle? (4 points) Group of answer choices square root 39 units 39 units square root 89 units 89 units

Answer 1

The length of the other leg of the triangle is
`√(39)` units.

Explanation:

The Pythagorean Theorem says that: If a and b are the lengths of the legs of a right triangle and c is the length of the hypotenuse, then the sum of the squares of the lengths of the legs is equal to the square of the length of the hypotenuse.

This relationship is represented by the formula:

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

where a and b are the legs and c is the hypotenuse of the right triangle.

From the information given we know that one leg is 5 units and the hypotenuse is 8 units.

Applying the above formula and solving for b we get that

`5^2+b^2=8^2\\\\5^2+b^2-5^2=8^2-5^2\\\\b^2=39\\\\b=√(39)`