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Finding a Leg of an 8-15-17 Right Triangle
Apply the Pythagorean Theorem and the geometry problem-solving strategy to find an unknown leg of a right triangle when one leg and the hypotenuse are given.
Problem: Use the Pythagorean Theorem to find the length of the unknown leg in a right triangle with one leg measuring units and a hypotenuse measuring units.
- Read the problem and visualize the figure.
- Identify what you are looking for: the length of the unknown leg.
- Name: Let be the length of the unknown leg. Label the triangle components with the leg as units and the hypotenuse as units.
- Translate: Write the Pythagorean Theorem formula and substitute the known measures: giving .
- Solve the equation. Evaluate the numerical squares: . Isolate the squared variable by subtracting from both sides: . Use the definition of the square root (retaining solely the positive root for physical length features): giving .
- Check the result: Does ? , meaning .
- Answer: The length of the leg is units.
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Finding a Leg of an 8-15-17 Right Triangle
Learn After
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