Question

Ms. McGuirk wants to know if she built her son's new sandbox with a perfect right angle or not? The shorter sides are 15 feet and 8 feet what should the measure of the 3rd side be to make it a perfect right angle?

Answer 1

Answer:

17 feet

Step-by-step explanation:

A right angle has 3 sides: the adjacent, the opposite and the hypotenuse.

The hypotenuse is the largest side of the right angle

The shorter sides are 15 feet and 8 feet which should represent opposite and adjacent sides respectively

Opposite = 15 feet

Adjacent = 8 feet

Hypotenuse = x feet

Using Pythagoras theorem to solve

Hypotenuse ² = opposite ² + adjacent ²

x² = 15² + 8²

x² = 225 + 64

x² = 289

Find the square root of both sides

√x² = √289

x = 17 feet

The 3rd side is 17 feet