<PRE><B>Question 548013</B>
The figure below is an isosceles triangle.
 The altitude is 5 inches and the congruent sides are 8 inches.
 Find the length of the base to the nearest tenth of an inch. 
:
we can use pythag, a^2 + b^2 = c^2
a = 5
b = {{{1/2}}} the base
c = 8
:
5^2 + b^2 = 8^2
25 + b^2 = 64
b^2 = 64 - 25
b^2 = 39
b = {{{sqrt(39)}}}
b = 6.245 * 12.5 inches is the base</PRE>