Question

Triangle ABC is a right triangle. The shortest side is 7 m long and the longest side is 10 m long. What is the approximate length of the third side?

Answer 1

The length of the third side is `sqrt(51)"m"~~7.141"m"`

Explanation:

The longest side in a right triangle is the hypotenuse which we know is 10 m long. We can choose any of the two legs to be 7 m long. Let the length of the remaining side be `a`. Pythagoras' theorem states that `a^2+b^2=c^2` where `a` and `b` are the legs of a right triangle and `c` is the hypotenuse.
`:.a^2+7^2=10^2`
`a^2=51`
`a=sqrt(51)~~7.141`