How do I find the value of x?Do the side lengths form a pythagorean triple?

Question

17178 views around the world

You can reuse this answer
Creative Commons License

Answer 1 · 2017-03-16T01:16:47

#20#

Yes, the sides form a triple (it is a #3,4,5# triangle, except on a bigger scale (#4 # times bigger)).

#a^2+b^2=c^2#.

In this case,
#12^2+16^2=c^2#
#400=c^2#, and since #c# is a side length, it must be the positive answer to the square root, or #20#.

Answer 2 · 2017-03-16T01:29:14

#x=20#; See link

Use the Pythagorean theorem (#a^2+b^2=c^2#)

Lets label the right triangle such that:
#a= 12#
#b=16#
#c=x#

Thus,

#12^2+16^2=x^2#

#144+256=x^2#

#400=x^2#

#sqrt(400)=x#

#20=x#

So our missing side, #c# is #20#

We can now say that the sides of our triangle are #12,16,20#

I've included a link that lists a couple of Pythagorean triples (a couple because they are infinitely many).

Answer 3 · 2017-03-16T19:05:45

#x=20#, Yes.

#12 = 4 xx 3#

#16 = 4 xx 4#,

#3#, #4#, #5# is a Pythagorean triple, so

#x = 4 xx 5#