Question

If two sides of a right angled triangle are 5cm and 6cm long, how many possibilities are there for the length of the third side?

Answer 1

Answer:

The other side is either 7.81 cm or 3.32 cm.

Step-by-step explanation:

The two sides of a right triangle are 5 cm and 6 cm.

There are three different ways this can happen.

1. 5 cm and 6 cm are the two legs of the 90° angle and hence, the hypotenuse is the third side.

Now, applying Pythagoras Theorem,

Hypotenuse = $\sqrt{6^{2} + 5^{2}} = 7.81$ cm.

2. Then one leg of the right angle is 6 cm and 5 cm is the hypotenuse.

But as 5 < 6, so, this is not possible as the length of the hypotenuse is more than the lengths of the legs.

3. 6 cm is the length of the hypotenuse and one leg is 5 cm.

The applying the Pythagoras Theorem, the length of the other leg will be given by $\sqrt{6^{2} - 5^{2}} = 3.32$ cm. (Answer)