The Pythagorean Theorem: Finding the Hypotenuse
Geometry
Level
1
According to the Pythagorean Theorem, the square of the length of the hypotenuse in a right triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. Find the length of the hypotenuse of a triangle whose two legs have lengths of 5 cm and 12 cm.
12 cm
13 cm
14 cm
15 cm
9 cm
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First, assign the two legs to their corresponding letters in the formula for the Pythagorean Theorem. These letters should be a and b, and the hypotenuse will be assigned the letter c. Next, square the legs and find their sums. The sum should be 25+144=169. Therefore, 169 is the hypotenuse squared. Finally, find the square root of 169 to find the hypotenuse. The hypotenuse is 13 cm long.