Question

What is the link of the missing side of the right triangle?



Sqrt(74)


2sqrt(15)


10



2

Answer 1

Do you have the Pythagorean Theorem?

Answer 2

Yup. A^2+B^2=C^2
But when I do it I get a awkward number.

Answer 3

@tkhunny

Answer 4

What's wrong with that? Write an exact value that is not awkward. What did you get?

Note: The answer is UNIQUE. No matter how you do it, you should get the same value, awkward or not.

Answer 5

I got -24. And it isn't one of the choices.

Answer 6

Excellent. I am glad that you recognized -24 as an indication that something went horribly wrong.

5^2 = 25
7^2 = 49

Why did you subtract them?

c^2 = 25+49 = 74

Answer 7

Ohhh. I thought you would do like 49+b^2=25. That's the part I got lost at.

Answer 8

That does explain why you subtracted.

It's a convention! a and b are always the short sides - the legs - the sides adjacent to the right angle.

Answer 9

Okay. So it would be the Sqrt(74)?

Answer 10

Can you simplify that?

Answer 11

8.6. But one of the answers is Sqrt(74)

Answer 12

Don't you DARE look at those answers until you have one of your own!!

Personally, I would put \(\sqrt{75}\) AND \(5\sqrt{3}\) amongst the answers. I the instructions said "Simplified", I would mark wrong everyone who said \(\sqrt{75}\).

I ask again, \(\sqrt{74}\). Can you simplfy that?

Answer 13

Just say "no" and we can move on. :-)

Answer 14

Use Pythagoras Theorem.
Given sides are 5 and 7,
So, we square them and take the square root of the product as the answer to the measure of the third side.
\[\sqrt{5^{2}+7^{2}}=\sqrt{25+49}=\sqrt{74}\]