Nelly S.

asked • 03/14/15

Prove: two right triangles are congruent if the hypotenuse and an acute angle of one is congruent to the corresponding parts of the other

Geometry

Nathan B.

I can use words to help explain it, hence why this is in the commentary instead of the answer's box if it needs some sort of mathematical proof.
AAS is one of the proofs to tell that two triangles are congruent. We have two angles: the right and the acute. We also have a side: the hypotenuse.
 
The two angles tell us the third angle because angles 1, 2, and 3 all equal 180 degrees.
If one of the legs in the triangle-B is shorter than in triangle-B, then the two non-right angles would have to change to compensate, and if they changed, those angles would no longer be congruent to triangle-B
 
Three angles are enough to give us similar triangles, but by giving us the congruous length of one side, the two triangles are locked into their sizes.
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03/14/15

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