Question

Two of the sides of a right triangle are 8 and 6 units long. How long is the third side? Find all possible answers.

Answer 1

Answer:

10 units.

2√7 units.

- (or 5.29 units to the nearest hundredth)

Step-by-step explanation:

If the 2 sides are legs of the triangle ( that is they are at 90 degrees to each other) the third side, by Pythagoras  theorem:

=  √(6^2 + 8^2)

=  √100

= 10 units.

The other possibility is that 8 is the length of the hypotenuse, in which case

The third side

=  √(8^2 - 6^2)

=  √28

= 2√7 units.