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Find the length of the unknown side round your answer to the nearest 10th

Find the length of the unknown side round your answer to the nearest 10th-example-1
User Bhv
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1 Answer

4 votes

Answer:

4.4 ft

Explanation:

The sides of a right triangle are "tied together" mathematically by an equation called the Pythagorean theorem, which says: in any right triangle, the relationship between the two sides that make the right angle (we'll call them a and b) and the side across from it (c) is


a^2+b^2=c^2

Let's sustitute these for the values we have in our problem (measured in feet)


9^2+a^2=10^2\\81+a^2=100\\a^2=19\\a=√(19)

19 is between the perfect squares
4^2=16 and
5^2=25, so
√(19) must be between 4 and 5, a little bit closer to 4. Punching the expression into the calculator confirms this with a value of
√(19)\approx4.3588 which we can round to 4.4 ft.

User Dmikam
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