SOLUTION: the hypotenuse of a right triangle is 20 inches. one of the legs has a meadure of 16 inches. what is the measure of the other leg? the answer i got was not an option

Question 252631: the hypotenuse of a right triangle is 20 inches. one of the legs has a meadure of 16 inches. what is the measure of the other leg?
the answer i got was not an option
Answer by jim_thompson5910(35256) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!

We basically have this triangle set up:

To find the unknown length, we need to use the Pythagorean Theorem.

Remember, the Pythagorean Theorem is where "a" and "b" are the legs of a triangle and "c" is the hypotenuse.

Since the legs are and this means that and

Also, since the hypotenuse is , this means that .

Start with the Pythagorean theorem.

Plug in , ,

Square to get .

Square to get .

Subtract from both sides.

Combine like terms.

Take the square root of both sides. Note: only the positive square root is considered (since a negative length doesn't make sense).

Simplify the square root.

================================================================

Answer:

So the solution is which means that the measure of the remaining leg is 12 inches.

RELATED QUESTIONS
A right triangle has legs that measure 48 inches and 20 inches. What is the measure (answered by JBarnum)

the legs of a right triangle measure 32 inches and 60 inches what is the... (answered by rfer)

What is the measure of the hypotenuse of a right triangle whose legs measure 7 inches and (answered by rapaljer)

what is the hypotenuse of a right triangle if the legs are each 20 inches... (answered by Alan3354)

What is the area in square inches of a right triangle that has an hypotenuse of 34... (answered by josgarithmetic)

A right angle has legs measuring 11 inches and 16 inches what is the length of the... (answered by stanbon)

the length of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is 34 inches and the length of one of... (answered by drk)

a right triangle has a hypotenuse that measures 225 inches. One of the legs measures 63... (answered by macston)

In a right triangle, the legs are 15 inches and 20 inches. Which is the length of the... (answered by april4869)