How do you find the length of the missing side of a right triangle if the hypotenuse is 4sqrt3 and the short side is 2?

2 Answers
Jun 11, 2015

I found the length as #6.6#

Explanation:

I would use Pythagora's Theorem as:
#c^2=a^2+b^2#
where #c=4sqrt(3)# is the hipotenuse.
So:
#16*3=4+b^2#
#b=sqrt(48-4)=6.6#
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Jun 11, 2015

The length of the missing side is exactly #2sqrt11#.

Explanation:

Use the Pythagorean theorem #c^2=a^2+b^2#, where #c# is the hypotenuse of a right triangle, and #a# and #b# are sides or legs of the right triangle.

http://memorize.com/pythagorean-theorem

For this question:

#c=4sqrt3#
#a=2#
#b=?#

Solve the Pythagorean theorem for #a#.

#b^2=c^2-a^2#

#b^2=(4sqrt3)^2-2^2# =

#b^2=16(3)-4# =

#b^2=48-4=44#

#b=sqrt44# =

#b=sqrt(4xx11)# =

#b=2sqrt11#