Math problem

Question

5.A brace for a shelf has the shape of a right triangle. Its hypotenuse is 8 inches long and the two legs are equal in length. How long are the legs of the triangle?

Answer 1

Since the two legs are equal in length, this is an isosceles right triangle. We can represent each of the legs as x. Then we can use the Pythagorean Theorem: 

 

a² + b² = c², where a and b are the legs of the right triangle and c represents the hypotenuse

 

x²+ x² = 8²

 

2x² = 64

 

x² = 32

 

x = 4√2

 

Each of the legs have a length of 4√2 inches

 

√2 = 1.414

 

x = 4(1.414) = 5.66 inches