The length of one of the legs of a right triangle is 5 and the hypotenuse is 10. What is the length of the other leg?

Question

johnweldon1993 · Answer

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We can use the Pythagorean theorem ...

It states that the sum of each leg squared...= the hypotenuses squared

$$a^2 + b^2 = c^2$$

where a and b are the legs...and c = the hypotenuse....

so...since we know the hypotenuse...and 1 leg...we can rearrange this to solve for either a or b

$$a^2 = c^2 - b^2$$
or to solve for just a (what we want)
$$a = \sqrt{c^2 - b^2}$$

plug in 10 for 'c' and 5 for 'b' and solve for a

anonymous · Answer

is the answer 75 @johnweldon1993

johnweldon1993 · Answer

That the first part of it...that is what you get when you do

c² - b²
10² - 5²
100 - 25 = 75

But remember....this answer is under a square root sign...

johnweldon1993 · Answer

so your final answer would be achieved by answering

what is the square root of 75...?