Question

Mrs. Walker is instructing a team of students on designing the sailboat shown. Beth is working on the smaller sail, which is a right triangle. She knows the lengths of two sides of the sail. Approximately how long should Beth make the remaining side of the sail?
A. 6.8 ft
B. 16.8 ft
C. 23.5 ft
D. 26.1 ft

Answer 1

Answer: OPTION C.

Step-by-step explanation:

1. To solve this problem you must apply the Pythagorean Theorem, which is shown below:

$a^{2}=b^{2}+c^{2}$

Where a is the hypotenuse, and b and c are the legs of the triangle.

2. When you solve for one of the legs and substitute values, you obtain that the result is:

$b=\sqrt{a^{2}-c^{2}}\\b=\sqrt{(24.8ft)^{2}-(8ft)^{2}}\\b=23.5ft$

Answer 2

Hello!

The answer is:  C. 23.5 ft.

Why?

Since it's a right triangle, we can use the pythagoras theorem:

$a^{2} + b^{2} = c^{2}$

Where:

$c=Hypotenuse\\a=side\\b=side$

According to the image:

$c=24.8ft\\a=8ft\\b=?$

So, by substituting we have:

$8^{2} + b^{2} = 24.8^{2}\\b^{2} =615.04-64\\b=\sqrt{551.04} \\b=23.47$

So, the other side is equal to 23.47≅23.5 ft.

Have a nice day!