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heathermonk
Nov 16, 2010, 04:48 PM
How do I find the missing side of a right triangle when side a is 5 meters and side b is 5 meters
jmjoseph
Nov 16, 2010, 04:54 PM
I would treat it like finding the diagonal of a square. Multiply side "a" by itself, 5x5=25 and add side "b" multiplied by itself so it will be 50, then get the square root of that number, 7.071 meters, and the missing angle is 45 deg.
Unknown008
Nov 16, 2010, 09:47 PM
Right and this is called the Pythagoras' Theorem.
If you have a right angle triangle as shown, the sum of the squares of the two sides adjacent to the right angle is equal to the square of the hypotenuse (the longest side of the triangle)
So, we get:
c^2 = a^2 + b^2
http://p1cture.me/images/41576007255536770202.png
fdr84
Nov 17, 2010, 02:50 PM
a^2 + b^2 = c^2
Let a = 5
Let b = 5
We now plug and chug.
(5)^2 + (5)^2 = c^2
25 + 25 = c^2
50 = c^2
Take square root of both sides.
sqrt[50] = sqrt[c^2]
5(sqrt[2]) = c
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