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stormy74
Apr 20, 2007, 12:24 PM
:confused: A right triangle is a triangle with one angle measuring 90°. In a right triangle, the lengths of the sides are related by the Pythagorean Theorem, where c is the length of the hypotenuse (the side opposite the 90° angle). Find the length of the hypotenuse when the other two sides’ measurements are 6 feet and 8 feet.

asterisk_man
Apr 20, 2007, 12:59 PM
This is easy because I can recognize a triangle with the two short sides as 6 and 8 as a scaled version of a 3-4-5 right triangle. The scaling factor is 2. Therefore, the hypotenuse is 5*2=10.

Alternatively, you can actually use the pythagorean theorem.

a^2+b^2=c^2
a and b are the two short sides (6 and 8 in your example). Substitute the values in for a and be and then just solve for c.

please ask if you don't understand.