in the right triangle A and B are the legs and C is the hypotenuse find b if a=15 and c=25

Question

Define the variable,write an equation, solve equation, and write the answer in sentence with correct units 

Answer 1

Use Pythagorean Theorem, a² + b² = c²

 

We have a and c

We need to find b

A = 15

c=25

 

Solve equation for b

b² = c² - a² = 25² - 15² = 625 - 225 = 400

b²= 400

b = 20

The length of b is 20.

 

You can also recognize that this triangle resembles a 3,4,5 triangle scaled up, so this triangle would be 15,20,25 if you just scale up that triangle by 5.