Question

One of the legs of a right triangle measures 16 cm and the other leg measures 2 cm. Find the measure of the hypotenuse. If necessary, round to the nearest tenth.

Answer 1

Answer: 16.1 cm

Explanation:

Attached below is a diagram of the triangle.

If you have two legs, you can find the hypotenuse of the right triangle by using the Pythagorean Theorem.

Pythagorean Theorem: a² + b² = c²

Let's set

a = 16 cm

b = 2 cm

So we get,

16² + 2² = c²

256 + 4 = c²

260 = c²

Take the square root of both sides to get c. Since you are taking the square root, there are two answers, positive and negative, but a side length can not be negative.

`√(260)` = c

Input this into your calculator, and you get

c = 16.1245155 cm

Rounding to the nearest tenth you get c = 16.1 cm