McGraw Hill Glencoe Algebra 2, 2012
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McGraw Hill Glencoe Algebra 2, 2012 View details
8. The Pythagorean Theorem
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Exercise 1 Page P23

39ft

Practice makes perfect
To find the missing side of the triangle, we will use the Pythagorean Theorem.
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=36ft and b=15ft. Let's substitute these values into the formula.
a^2+b^2=c^2
36^2+ 15^2=c^2
â–Ľ
Solve for c
1296+225=c^2
1521=c^2
sqrt(1521)=c
c=sqrt(1521)
c=39
Since a negative side length does not make sense, we only need to consider positive solutions.