SOLUTION: PLease help. I think I have this one figured out, but I have a question about the end. The problem is: In a right triangle, find the length of the side not given. One side is a, t

Question 177391: PLease help. I think I have this one figured out, but I have a question about the end. The problem is: In a right triangle, find the length of the side not given. One side is a, the other side is 1 and the hypotneuse is the square root of 5.
So I used the formula of a^2+b^2=c^2 and plugged in the numbers.
a^2+(1)^2=the square root of 5^2.
my question is would that become the problem: a^2+1=5 ?
Thank you
Answer by jim_thompson5910(35256) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
You're on the right track, I'll start where you left off.

Start with the given equation.

Subtract 1 from both sides.

Combine like terms.

Take the square root of both sides. Note: we're only taking the positive square root.

Take the square root of 4 to get 2

So the solution is which means that the missing side length is 2 units.
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