Question

If the length of the legs of a right triangle are 18 and 34, what is the length of the hypotenuse? Round your

answer to the nearest tenth, if necessary.

Answer 1

38.5

Explanation:

Hello!

To find the length of a missing side of a right triangle we use the equation

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

a is a leg

b is the other leg

c is the hypotenuse

Put in what we know

`18^(2) +34^(2)= c^(2)`

Simplify

`324+1156 = c^(2)`

Simplify

`1480 = c^(2)`

Take the square root of both sides

38.470 = c

Round to the nearest tenth

38.5 = c

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

The answer is 38.5

Explanation:

Since we have been given the legs of the right angled triangle we can use Pythagoras theorem to find the hypotenuse

That's

`{h}^(2) = {b}^(2) + {c}^(2)`

where

h is the hypotenuse

The legs of the triangle are 18 and 34 so the hypotenuse is

`{h}^(2) = {18}^(2) + {34}^(2)`

`h = √(324 + 1156) \\ h = √(1480) \\ h = 2 √(370)`

h = 38.47076

We have the final answer as

h = 38.5 to the nearest tenth

Hope this helps you