SOLUTION: find the measure of b if a = 10 and c = 16 I have figured it out as far as I can, but I am now stuck and I don't know what to do, so if you could put down every single step I woul

Question 143241: find the measure of b if a = 10 and c = 16
I have figured it out as far as I can, but I am now stuck and I don't know what to do, so if you could put down every single step I would appreciate it!!!
Answer by jim_thompson5910(35256) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
We basically have a triangle like this set up:

Since we can see that the triangle has legs of 10 and x with a hypotenuse of 16, we can use Pythagoreans theorem to find the unknown side.

Pythagoreans theorem:

where a and b are the legs of the triangle and c is the hypotenuse

Plug in a=10, b=x, and c=16. Now lets solve for x

Square each individual term

Subtract 100 from both sides

Combine like terms

Take the square root of both sides

Simplify the square root

So our answer is which is approximately

So the value of b is which is approximately
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