Question

What makes a triangle a “special” right triangle? How can special right triangles help me find side lengths?

Answer 1

A special right triangle is identified by its angles. There are two of them. The 45-45-90 and the 30-60-90. In the 45-45-90, the legs are the same length and the hypotenuse is the leg multiplied by the square root of 2.

In the 30-60-90, the short leg multiplied by 2 is the hypotenuse and the short leg multiplied by the square root of three is the long leg.