We are given the lengths of the three sides of a triangle, and want to determine whether the sides form a right triangle. We will need to use the converse of the Pythagorean Theorem.
"If the sides of a triangle have lengths
a,b,andc,and c^2=a^2+b^2,then
the triangle is a right triangle."
This tells us that we can use the Pythagorean Theorem in reverse to test if a triangle is right. In general, the hypotenuse c has the greatest value. Let's substitute a=11ft, b=12ft, and c=16ft into a^2+b^2=c^2, and see if they produce a true statement.
