The length of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is 145 units. The length of one leg of the triangle is
144 units. Mike wrote the following step to find the length of the unknown leg:

Length of the unknown leg = 1452 − 1442 = 21,025 − 20,736 = 289 units

@Sepeario

Question

The length of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is 145 units. The length of one leg of the triangle is
144 units. Mike wrote the following step to find the length of the unknown leg:

Length of the unknown leg = 1452 − 1442 = 21,025 − 20,736 = 289 units

@Sepeario

muscrat123 · Answer

Which statement best explains whether Mike's step is correct or incorrect?

 It is incorrect because the length of the unknown side is the square root of 289.
 It is incorrect because the length of the unknown side is the square root of 41,761.
 It is correct because the length of the unknown side is the difference of the lengths of the sides.
 It is correct because the length of the unknown side is the difference of the squares of the sides.

sepeario · Answer

He needs to square root his answer.

muscrat123 · Answer

so he needs to square root 289?

muscrat123 · Answer

@Sepeario

sepeario · Answer

Yes.

sepeario · Answer

As he squared the other sides, the final answer he got was also a squared number.

mathstudent55 · Answer

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