Question

In a right triangle, a and b are the lengths of the legs and c is the length of the hypotenuse. If a=9 feet and c=10 feet, what is b? If necessary, round to the nearest tenth. HELPPP!!

Answer 1

b = 4.4 feet

Explanation:

To find the value of "b", all you need to do is plug the values for "a" and "c" into the pythagorean Theorem and isolate "b".

a² + b² = c² <------ Phythagorean Theorem

9² + b² = 10² <------- Plug in a = 9 and c = 10

81 + b² = 100 <-------- Square both values

b² = 19 <-------- Subtract 81 from both sides

`\sqrt{b^(2) } = √(19)` <-------- Square root both sides to remove exponent

b = 4.358...

b = 4.4 feet