Question

A garden is in the shape of an isosceles right triangle. The length of the hypotenuse is 24 feet. What is the area of the triangle?

Answer 1

Area = 144 ft^2

Explanation:

Remark

Use the Pythagorean theorem to find the length of the legs. Then multiply them together and divide by 2.

Equations

a^2 + a^2 = c^2

Area = (1/2) * a^2

Givens

c = 24

Solution

Remember that an isosceles triangle has 2 equal sides. Both legs of the triangle are equal to a.

a^2 + a^2 = c^2 Combine

2a^2 = 24^2 Expand

2a^2 = 576 Divide by 2

2a^2/2= 576/2

a^2 = 288 You might just as well leave this. go to area

Area = 1/2 (288)

Answer: Area = 144 ft^2