Question

The hypotenuse of a right triangle measures 26 centimeters in length. The length of one leg is 24 centimeters. What is the length, in centimeters, of the other leg?

Answer 1

10 cm

Explanation:

the formula for it is a2+ b2=c2

Answer 2

the length of the unknown leg is 10 cm

Explanation:

Use the Pythagorean theorem to solve the problem. The theorem states that the square of the hypotenuse equals the addition of the squares of the two legs:

`hyp^2=leg_1^2+leg_2^2`

since we know the length one of the legs (24 cm) and also of the hypotenuse (26 cm), we can solve for the unknown leg in the equation above:

`hyp^2=leg_1^2+leg_2^2\\(26\,cm)^2=(24\,cm)^2 +leg_2^2\\leg_2^2 = (26\,cm)^2-(24\,cm)^2 \\leg_2^2=100\,cm^2\\leg_2=√(100\,cm^2) \\leg_2=10\,cm`

Therefore, the length of the unknown leg is 10 cm.