One leg of a right triangle has a length of 43.2 millimeters. The hypotenuse of the triangle has a length

Question

One leg of a right triangle has a length of 43.2 millimeters. The hypotenuse of the triangle has a length of 196.8 millimeters. What is the length of the other leg of the triangle, in millimeters?

Accepted Answer

Choice C is correct. The Pythagorean theorem states that for a right triangle, the sum of the squares of the lengths of the two legs is equal to the square of the length of the hypotenuse. It's given that one leg of a right triangle has a length of 43.2 millimeters. It's also given that the hypotenuse of the triangle has a length of 196.8 millimeters. Let b represent the length of the other leg of the triangle, in millimeters. Therefore, by the Pythagorean theorem, 43.2 2 + b 2 = 196.8 2 , or 1,866.24 + b 2 = 38,730.24 . Subtracting 1,866.24 from both sides of this equation yields b 2 = 36,864 . Taking the positive square root of both sides of this equation yields b = 192 . Therefore, the length of the other leg of the triangle, in millimeters, is 192 . Choice A is incorrect and may result from conceptual or calculation errors. Choice B is incorrect and may result from conceptual or calculation errors. Choice D is incorrect and may result from conceptual or calculation errors.

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