Big Ideas Math: Modeling Real Life, Grade 8
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2. The Pythagorean Theorem
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Exercise 7 Page 386

29kilometers

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=21kilometers and b=20kilometers.

Let's substitute these values into the formula.
a^2+b^2=c^2
21^2+ 20^2=c^2
â–Ľ
Solve for c
441+400=c^2
841=c^2
c^2=841
c=sqrt(841)
c=29
Since a negative side length does not make sense, we only need to consider positive solutions.