Two sides of a right triangle have lengths of 2cm and 5cm the third side is not the hypotenuse how long is the third side ?

Answer 1

If the third side is not the hypotenuse (which is the longest side) that means the longest side is 5cm.

The pythagorean theorem states the the hypothenuse²= side1²+side2². Let us call the unknown side = x .

Then x² + 2² = 5²

x² + 4 = 25

x² +4 -4 = 25 - 4

x² = 21

x = the square root of 21

(The square root of 21) = 21^1/2 is my final answer.