Question

How do you use the Pythagorean Theorem to find the missing side of the right triangle with the given measures: A= 15, B= 20?

Answer 1

`c=25`

Explanation:

If we know that `a^2+b^2=c^2`, and we are given that `a=15` and that `b=20`, then we can solve for `c`.

Let's do that: `15^2+20^2=c^2`, which we can rewrite as `225+400=c^2`. This can be simplified to `625=c^2`, and to solve for `c`, we just need to get rid of the square. To do that, we just square root both sides, like this: `sqrt(625)=sqrt(c^2)`. This gives us `25=c`. Nice job!

Answer 2

`C=25` (see other answers for this)
or
`C=5sqrt(7)`

Explanation:

Since we were not told that the missing side is the hypotenuse an alternate possibility exists from those given previously.

`C=sqrt(20^2-15^2) = sqrt(175) = 5sqrt(7)`