Big Ideas Math Geometry, 2014
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Big Ideas Math Geometry, 2014 View details
1. The Pythagorean Theorem
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Exercise 9 Page 468

The value of x is 14, and the side lengths form a Pythagorean triple.

Practice makes perfect

Let's begin with recalling the Pythagorean Theorem.

In the formula, a and b are the legs and c is the hypotenuse of a right triangle. Now let's take a look at the given triangle.
To find x we will write the equation according to the Pythagorean Theorem. x^2+ 48^2= 50^2 Let's solve above equation. Notice that, since x is a side length, we will consider only positive case when taking a square root of x^2.
x^2+48^2=50^2
â–Ľ
Solve for x
x^2+2304=2500
x^2=196
x=sqrt(196)
x=14
The value of x is 14.

Notice that all side lengths of the triangle are integers, so they form a Pythagorean triple.