Question 998005
the problem is to determine the length of the unknown side using the Pythagorean theorem I understood everything until the last it says  

 "Solve for c by taking the square root of both sides"
what does that mean
<pre>{{{c^2 = a^2 + b^2}}}
You want to solve for c, but the equation is now solved for {{{c^2}}}, not c
To "get rid" of the square from the {{{highlight_green(highlight_green(c^highlight(highlight(2))))}}}, you have to apply the INVERSE operation, which is to take the square root. However, whatever you do to one side
of the equation you need to also do to the other side. Therefore, taking the square root of the left side, or {{{sqrt(c^2)}}} means that you ALSO have to take the
square root of the right side of the equation, as follows: {{{sqrt(c^2) = sqrt(a^2 + b^2)}}}
The square and the square root cancel each other, so we're left with just "c" on the left side. Now we get: {{{c = sqrt(a^2 + b^2)}}}