In a right triangle, a and b are the lengths of the legs and c is the length of the hypotenuse. If a=7 kilometers and b=6 kilometers, what is c? If necessary, round to the nearest tenth.

1 answer

To find the length of the hypotenuse \( c \) in a right triangle with legs \( a \) and \( b \), we can use the Pythagorean theorem:

\[ c = \sqrt{a^2 + b^2} \]

Given \( a = 7 \) kilometers and \( b = 6 \) kilometers, we can substitute these values into the formula:

\[ c = \sqrt{7^2 + 6^2} \]

Calculating the squares of \( a \) and \( b \):

\[ 7^2 = 49 \quad \text{and} \quad 6^2 = 36 \]

Adding these values together:

\[ c = \sqrt{49 + 36} = \sqrt{85} \]

Now we need to calculate \( \sqrt{85} \).

\[ \sqrt{85} \approx 9.21954445729 \]

Rounding this to the nearest tenth:

\[ c \approx 9.2 \text{ kilometers} \]

Thus, the length of the hypotenuse \( c \) is approximately \( \boxed{9.2} \) kilometers.