Question the-li

4.4 Area and Volume - Area of polygons and composite shapes
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  • The line segment slants gradually up from left to right.
  • The line segment begins at the point (negative 6 comma 4).
  • The line segment ends at the point (3 comma 10).

The line segment shown in the xy-plane represents one of the legs of a right triangle. The area of this triangle is 36 13 square units. What is the length, in units, of the other leg of this triangle?

A.

12

B.

24

C.

3 13

D.

18 13

The line segment slants gradually up from left to right. The line segment begins at the

Hard-difficulty · SAT Math · Area and Volume — Area of polygons and composite shapes. Read the question above, select your answer, and check the full explanation below to understand exactly why the correct choice works.

Answer explanation

Choice B is correct. The length of a segment in the xy-plane can be found using the distance formula, x2-x12+y2-y12, where x1,y1 and x2,y2 are the endpoints of the segment. The segment shown has endpoints at -6,4 and 3,10. Substituting -6,4 and 3,10 for x1,y1 and x2,y2, respectively, in the distance formula yields 3--62+10-42, or 92+62, which is equivalent to 81+36, or 117. Let x represent the length, in units, of the other leg of this triangle. The area, A , of a right triangle can be calculated using the formula A=12bh, where b and h are the lengths of the legs of the triangle. It's given that the area of the triangle is 3613 square units. Substituting 3613 for A , 117 for b , and x for h in the formula A=12bh yields 3613=12117x. Multiplying both sides of this equation by 2 yields 7213=x117. Dividing both sides of this equation by 117 yields 7213117=x. Multiplying the numerator and denominator on the left-hand side of this equation by 117 yields 721,521117=x, or 7239117=x, which is equivalent to 2,808117=x, or 24 = x . Therefore, the length, in units, of the other leg of this triangle is 24 .

Choice A is incorrect and may result from conceptual or calculation errors.

Choice C is incorrect. 313 is equivalent to 117, which is the length, in units, of the line segment shown in the xy-plane, not the length, in units, of the other leg of the triangle.

Choice D is incorrect and may result from conceptual or calculation errors.