Question

Find the length of "a", to the nearest tenth, using the Pythagorean Theorem. Enter

Answer 1

Answer:

$\sqrt{28} \approx 5.3$

Step-by-step explanation:

The Pythagorean Theorem says if you have a right triangle, then relationship between the three sides is the sum of the square of each leg is the hypotenuse squared.

So $a^2+b^2=c^2$

where a and b are legs and c is the hypotenuse.

Plug in your a,b, and c. In this case it is a,6, and 8.

This means we have

$a^2+6^2=8^2$

Simplify where you can before we begin the solving (the moving around of things to other sides).

$a^2+36=64$

Now time for the solving. We are first going to get $a^2$ by itself.

To do this, we just need to subtract 36 on both sides giving us:

$a^2=64-36$

$a^2=28$

Now to get rid of the square on a, just square root both sides:

$a=\sqrt{28}$.