Question

Find the length of the hypotenuse of a right triangle with legs of 15 inches and 7 inches.

Answer 1

Answer:

16.55

Step-by-step explanation:

$\sqrt{7} ^ {2} +15^{2}$

Answer 2

Answer:

$\boxed {\boxed {\sf \sqrt {274} \ or \ 16.55 \ inches}}$

Step-by-step explanation:

The sides of a right triangle can be found using Pythagorean Theorem.

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

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

In this triangle, the legs are 15 and 7, so we can substitute those values in for a and b.

$(15)^2+(7)^2=c^2$

Solve the exponents.

• 15²=15*15=225
• 7²=7*7=49

$225+49=c^2$

Add.

$274=c^2$

Since we are solving c, we have to isolate the variable. It is being squared and the inverse of a square is a square root. Take the square root of both sides.

$\sqrt {274}=\sqrt {c^2}$

$\sqrt {274}=c \\ 16.5529453572= c$

Let's round to the nearest hundredth. The 2 in the thousandth place tells us to leave the 5.

$16.55 \approx c$

The hypotenuse is approximately √274 or 16.55 inches