Question

If the hypotenuse is 20 and one of the legs is 12, what is the length of the missing leg?

Answer 1

Answer:

12 cm

Explanation:

From

Pythagoras Theorem

h

2

=

a

2

+

b

2

where

h =

Length of hypotenuse side

a =

Length of one leg

b =

Length of another leg

(

20 cm

)

2

=

(

16 cm

)

2

+

b

2

b

2

=

(

20 cm

)

2

−

(

16 cm

)

2

b

=

√

(

20 cm

)

2

−

(

16 cm

)

2

b

=

√

400 cm

2

−

256 cm

2

b

=

√

144 cm

2

b = 12 cmStep-by-step explanation:

Answer 2

Answer:

16 units

Step-by-step explanation:

For a right triangle, a²+b²=c², where a and b are leg lengths, and c is the hypotenuse. Given one leg length and the hypotenuse, we can find the other leg length by plugging in our given information:

a²+b²=c²

12²+b²=20²

144+b²=400

b²=256

b=16

Therefore, the missing leg length is 16 units.