Question 157456
FIND THE SIDE OF A SQUARE WHOSE DIAGONAL IS 5 CM.

Let s = side of this square

The diagonal is our hypotenuse and any two sides can be the two legs.

We use the Pythagorean Theorem to find s.

s^2 + s^2 = 5^2

2s^2 = 25

Divide both sides by s.

s^2 = 25/2

Take the square root of both sides.

s = sqrt{25/2}

We can house the numerator and denominator into their own radical symbol.

s = sqrt{25}/sqrt{2}

s = 5/sqrt{2}

We rationalize the denominator because a radical is never accepted in the denominator.

Doing so, our final answer is:

side of this square = 5(sqrt{2})/2....This is read: "Five times the square root of two divided by two."

Is this clear?