A right triangle has leg length of 8 inches, and a hypotenuse a length 10 inches, what must be the length of the right other leg?

1 answer

We can use the Pythagorean theorem to solve this problem.

Let the length of the other leg be x inches.

According to the Pythagorean theorem, the sum of the squares of the lengths of the two legs of a right triangle is equal to the square of the length of the hypotenuse.

Using this information, we can write the equation:

x^2 + 8^2 = 10^2

x^2 + 64 = 100

Subtracting 64 from both sides, we get:

x^2 = 36

Taking the square root of both sides, we get:

x = 6

Therefore, the length of the other leg must be 6 inches.