Question 309456
If c is the hypotenuse of a right triangle, then a and b are the legs.

The pythagorean formula states that:


c^2 = a^2 + b^2


If c = 43 and b = 16 then this formula becomes:


43^2 = a^2 + 16^2 which becomes


1849 = a^2 + 256


Subtract 256 from both sides of the equation to get


1593 = a^2

Take the square root of both sides of this equation to get:


39.91240409 = a


To confirm, plug this in the original pythagorean formula of:


c^2 = a^2 + b^2 to get:


43^2 = 39.91240409^2 + 16^2 which becomes:


1849 = 1593 + 256 which becomes


1849 = 1849 confirming that the value of a is good.