We are given a right angled triangle with one side of unknown length. The shortest side is 3cm long, and the longest side is 5cm long. Calculate the remaining side.

This is a classic question testing your understanding of Pythagoras' Theorem. This is an equation which shows us the relationship between the 3 sides of a right angled triangle : a2 + b2 = c2. a and b are the shorter sides, while c is the longest (the hypotenuse).For this question, we have a and c, but not b. If we subtract a from the left side of the equation and add it to the right side, we have b2 = c2 - a2. Now we can fill in our values: b2 = 52 - 32, or b2 = 16. Now we take the square root of both sides, and find that b = 4cm.

SM
Answered by Sean M. Maths tutor

2601 Views

See similar Maths GCSE tutors

Related Maths GCSE answers

All answers ▸

A t-shirt is in the sale section of a store. It has 20% off and the new sale price is £12. What was the original price of the t-shirt?


Solve the simultaneous equations: 2x + y = 18, x - y = 6


How do I solve x^2+6x+8=0?


Solve the quadratic equation: 5x2+8x+2


We're here to help

contact us iconContact usWhatsapp logoMessage us on Whatsapptelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

© MyTutorWeb Ltd 2013–2025

Terms & Conditions|Privacy Policy
Cookie Preferences