Q:

The length of one leg of a right triangle is 20 ft and the length of the hypotenuse is 52 ft. What is the length of the other leg? A. 32.0 feet B. 70.8 feet C. 5.7 feet D. 48.0 feet

Accepted Solution

A:
We will apply Pythagoras theorem in a right triangle, which states " Consider a right triangle with hypotenuse 'h' and two legs say 'b' and 'p'. Pythagoras theorem states that the square of hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the square of both the legs of a triangle".Mathematically, [tex] h^{2}=b^{2}+p^{2} [/tex] (Equation 1)Length of hypotenuse (h)= 52 feetLength of one leg (let b )= 20 feetWe need to calculate the length of another leg that is 'p'Using Equation 1,[tex] h^{2}=b^{2}+p^{2} [/tex]Substituting the values, we get[tex] (52)^{2}=(20)^{2}+p^{2} [/tex][tex] 2704 = 400+p^{2} [/tex][tex] p^{2}=2304 [/tex][tex] p=\sqrt{2304} [/tex]p = 48 feet Therefore, Option D is the correct answer.