We have looked at how to find the hypotenuse and the short side of a right-angled triangle. We will now look at how we can apply the side-length relationship for right triangles to everyday situations. Remember:
$a^2+b^2=c^2$a2+b2=c2,
Where:
We can rearrange this equation to find formulas for each side length.
To find the hypotenuse: $c=\sqrt{a^2+b^2}$c=√a2+b2
To find a shorter side: $a=\sqrt{c^2-b^2}$a=√c2−b2
To apply the side-length relationship for right triangles to real life situations, we can follow these four simple steps.
Let's look at some examples so we can see this in action.
The screen on a handheld device has dimensions $9$9 cm by $5$5 cm, and a diagonal of length $x$x cm.
What is the value of $x$x?
Round your answer to two decimal places.
The top of a flag pole is $6$6 metres above the ground and the shadow cast by the flag pole is $13$13 metres long.
The distance from the top of the flag pole to the end of its shadow is $d$d m. Find $d$d, rounded to two decimal places.