The hypotenuse of a 45°-45°-90° triangle measures 4 cm. What is the length of one leg of the triangle?

Question

Answer 1

The relationship of the legs of the 45-45-90 triangle is 1-1-√2 (This comes from the Pythagorean theorem but it is worth memorizing this special relationship)

You can use this relationship to set up a proportion and solve.

1/√2 = x/4 Cross multiply

4=√2 x Divide both sides by √2

4/√2=√2 x/√2 Simplify

x=4/√2