Question

what is the unknown side of a triangle if one side is 20 and one side is 30? Round your answer to the nearest hundredth.

Answer 1

To determine the unknown side of a triangle with given sides of 20 and 30, we would need additional information about the triangle, such as whether it's a right triangle, the angle between the two sides, or if it is meant to be a specific type of triangle (e.g., obtuse, acute).

However, if we assume you're referring to a right triangle and we know these are the two legs, we can use the Pythagorean theorem:

\[
c = \sqrt{a^2 + b^2}
\]
where \( c \) is the hypotenuse and \( a \) and \( b \) are the two other sides.

Let’s calculate the hypotenuse when the two sides are 20 and 30:

1. Square the lengths of the two known sides:
\[
20^2 = 400
\]
\[
30^2 = 900
\]

2. Add these squares together:
\[
400 + 900 = 1300
\]

3. Take the square root to find the hypotenuse:
\[
c = \sqrt{1300} \approx 36.06
\]

So, if the triangle is a right triangle, the length of the hypotenuse would be approximately **36.06** when rounded to the nearest hundredth.

If the triangle is not a right triangle, further information would be needed to determine the unknown side.