Question

A right triangle has a hypotenuse of 28 and one side of 14. What is the length of the third side?

Answer 1

Use the Pythagorean Theorem `a^2+b^2=c^2`, where `a` and `b` are the legs and `c` is the hypotenuse.

Substitute `a=14` and `c=28`

`14^2+ b^2=28^2`

`196+b^2=784`

solve for `b^2`; `b^2=784-196`

`b^2=588`

square root both sides (you don't need to worry about any negative roots because distances are only positive)

`b=14sqrt3` or `b=24.25` units