SOLUTION: A brace for a shelf has the shape of a right triangle. Its hypotenuse is 10 inches long and the two legs are equal in length. How long are the legs of the triangle?
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Question 550977: A brace for a shelf has the shape of a right triangle. Its hypotenuse is 10 inches long and the two legs are equal in length. How long are the legs of the triangle? Answer by oberobic(2304) (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! Use the Pythagorean Theorem.
c^2 = 10^2 = 100
c^2 = a^2 + b^2
a = b
100 = a^2 + a^2 = 2*a^2
a^2 = 50
a = sqrt(50) = sqrt(25*2) = 5*sqrt(2)
so,
The legs are each 5*sqrt(2) inches.
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