Big Ideas Math: Modeling Real Life, Grade 8
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2. The Pythagorean Theorem
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Exercise 1 Page 382

17feet

Practice makes perfect
To find the missing side length of the triangle, we will use the Pythagorean Theorem. a^2+b^2=c^2

In the formula, a and b are the legs and c is the hypotenuse of a right triangle. We are given a triangle with a=8feet and b=15feet.

Let's substitute these values into the formula.
a^2+b^2=c^2
8^2+ 15^2=c^2
â–Ľ
Solve for c
64+225=c^2
289=c^2
sqrt(289)=c
c=sqrt(289)
c=17
Since a negative side length does not make sense, we only need to consider positive solutions.