Question

The length of one leg of a right triangle is 24 feet and the length of the hypotenuse is 40 ft what is the length of the other leg

Answer 1

To solve for the other leg, you need to use Pythagorean theory.

The theory states that C^2 = A^2 + B^2

In your case, you have to solve for B.
C = 40 (hypotenuse)   A = 24 (leg 1)

The formula rewritten for B is $b= \sqrt{c^{2}-a^{2} }$

Now, you can solve.

$b= \sqrt{c^{2}-a^{2} } b= \sqrt{40^{2}-24^2 } b = \sqrt{1600 - 576} b = \sqrt{1024} b = 32$

Therefore, B = 32.

So the second leg is 32 feet.