Question

Use the Pythagorean Theorem to find the length of the leg in the triangle shown below.

The figure shows a right triangle with one leg marked 12. The hypotenuse is marked 15.

Answer 1

9

Explanation:

The Pythagorean Theorem is a² + b² = c². c² is the hypotenuse while a² and b² are the legs.

So plugging it into the equation,

a² + 12² = 15²

a² + 144 = 225

a² = 81

a = 9

steps:

1. square the values

2. isolate the missing value

3. take the square root of both sides