How do you find the missing side of each right triangle. Side c is the hypotenuse and Sides a and b are the legs, a=11m, c=15m?

1 Answer
Nov 17, 2016

The missing side has a length of 10.2m rounded to the nearest 10th.

Explanation:

The Pythagorean Theorem states for a right triangle as given:

#a^2 + b^2 = c^2# where #a# and #b# are the sides and #c# is the hypotenuse.

In this problem #a# and #c# have been provided so we can substitute for these and solve for #b# while keeping the equation balanced:

#11^2 + b^2 = 15^2#

#121 + b^2 = 225#

#121 + b^2 - 121 = 225 - 121#

#b^2 = 104#

#sqrt(b^2) = sqrt(104)#

#b = 10.2# rounded to the nearest 10th.