SOLUTION: Side a of the right triangle measures 4 cm. Side b measures 3 cm. What is side c?

Question 638391: Side a of the right triangle measures 4 cm. Side b measures 3 cm. What is side c?
Answer by josh_jordan(263) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
We will solve this problem using the Pythagorean Theorem, which states that:

Now, given that a = 4cm and b = 3 cm, we will substitute our letters for the corresponding numbers:

This equals:

Adding 16 and 9, we get
We now know what equals, but we need to know what c equals. To find out, we have to do the opposite of what's being done to c. C is being squared, and the opposite of a square is a square root. So, we will take the square root of both sides:

which gives us our final answer:
, so side C of our triangle is 5cm
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