Question

Which set of numbers could represent the lengths of the sides of a right triangle?


5, 12, 13

12, 13, 15

10, 12, 14

10, 12, 22

Answer 1

Just remember Pythagoras theorem: the squares of the two shorter sides should add up to the square of the longest side (the hypotenuse). So just try squaring the two smaller numbers in each list, and see if the squares add up to the square of the bigger number.