document.write( "Question 180768: an isoceles triangle has a hypotenuse 15 cm long. Determine the length of the two equal sides?\r
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Algebra.Com's Answer #135488 by jim_thompson5910(35256)\"\" \"About 
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Since there's a hypotenuse, this means that the triangle must be a right triangle. \r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "So we basically have this triangle set up:\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Since the legs are \"x\" and \"x\" this means that \"a=x\" and \"b=x\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Also, since the hypotenuse is \"15\", this means that \"c=15\".\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"a%5E2%2Bb%5E2=c%5E2\" Start with the Pythagorean theorem.\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x%5E2%2Bx%5E2=15%5E2\" Plug in \"a=x\", \"b=x\", \"c=15\" \r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x%5E2%2Bx%5E2=225\" Square \"15\" to get \"225\".\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"2x%5E2=225\" Combine like terms.\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x%5E2=225%2F2\" Divide both sides by 2.\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x=sqrt%28225%2F2%29\" Take the square root of both sides. Note: we're only dealing with the positive square root.\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x=%2815%2Asqrt%282%29%29%2F2\" Simplify the square root.\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x=10.61\" Approximate\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Answer:\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "So the solution is approximately \"x=10.61\" which means that the length of the two equal sides is about 10.61 cm
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