The hypotenuse of a right triangle is 25 cm, and the shorter leg is 15 cm. Find the length of the other leg.
Answer:
The other leg is 20 cm
So the equation for the Pythagorean theorem is
a^2+b^2=c^2
The hypotenuse is always the c. It does matter if 25 is plugged into a or b. So
15^2=225 and c^2=25^2=625
So subtract 225 from both sides. You have a^2(or b^2)=400. Square root on both sides. There, a^2(or b^2), i.e. the other leg, is 20 cm.
