SOLUTION: Find the length of the hypotenuse of a right triangle whose legs are 8 and 15 units in length.

Algebra ->  Pythagorean-theorem -> SOLUTION: Find the length of the hypotenuse of a right triangle whose legs are 8 and 15 units in length.      Log On


   

Question 705598: Find the length of the hypotenuse of a right triangle whose legs are 8 and 15 units in length.
Answer by MathLover1(20849) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!

let the hypotenuse be c,and legs a and b
given:
a=8 and b=15
since we have a right triangle, we will use Pythagorean theorem to find the length of the hypotenuse
c%5E2=a%5E2%2Bb%5E2.......plug in given values for a and b
c%5E2=8%5E2%2B15%5E2
c%5E2=64%2B225
c%5E2=289
c=sqrt%28289%29...we will use only positive root because the length of the hypotenuse cannot be negative number
highlight%28c=17%29...so,the length of the hypotenuse is 17 units in length