Question

Draw a picture : the legs of an isosceles triangle are 15 units long and the altitude to the base is 8 units long find the length of the base

Answer 1

25.38 units to the nearest hundredth.

Explanation:

The altitude line bisects the base so we have 2 right angled triangles with hypotenuse 15 and legs x and 8 units.

x^2 = 15^2 - 8^2 ( by Pythagoras).

x^2 = 161

x = √161

= 12.689 units.

So the base = 2 * 12.689

= 25.38 units.