Explanation:
I think you mean triangle XYZ. and angle XYZ.
so, the angle at Y is 90°.
that makes XZ the Hypotenuse (baseline opposite of the 90° angle) of the right-angled triangle.
so, we can actually use Pythagoras (we don't need the area of the triangle to solve) :
13² = 12² + YZ²
169 = 144 + YZ²
25 = YZ²
YZ = 5 cm
just to check - the area of this triangle is (remember, it is a right-angled triangle, so XY and YZ serve also as baseline and height) :
area = 12 × 5 / 2 = 60/2 = 30 cm²
correct, it fits.