SOLUTION: Assume that a, b, and c are sides of a right triangle as shown in this picture. If side b = 240 cm and side c = 244 cm, use the Pythagorean Theorem to find the length of side a in

Question 844995: Assume that a, b, and c are sides of a right triangle as shown in this picture. If side b = 240 cm and side c = 244 cm, use the Pythagorean Theorem to find the length of side a in cm.

Answer by pmesler(52) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
First let's state with the Pythagorean Theorem is. It says
a^2 + b^2 = c^2.
From the problem we only know what the values for b and c are. We simply plug those values into the Pythagorean Theorem and solve for a.

we know that b = 240 cm and c = 244 cm, therefore we can write the problem like this:
a^2 + 240^2 = 244^2.
a^2 + 57600 = 59536
Now, let's isolate a on the left side of the equation. We do this by subtracting 57600 from both sides. We end up with the following equation:

a^2 = 1936.
Now we need to find a. Since a is squared we need to "undo" the squaring function by using the inverse or opposite function. The inverse function of squaring is to take the square root. Therefore we will take the square root of both sides to get this:

sqrt(a^2) = sqrt(1936).

a = 44. Therefore the length of side a is 44 cm.

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