Question

What is the length of the missing leg? One leg is 3 mm and the slope is 7 mm. If necessary, round to the nearest tenth.

Answers

GPT-4o mini
To find the length of the missing leg in a right triangle, we can use the Pythagorean theorem, which states that:

\[
a^2 + b^2 = c^2
\]

where \( a \) and \( b \) are the lengths of the legs, and \( c \) is the length of the hypotenuse (the slope in this case).

In your case:
- One leg (\( a \)) = 3 mm
- The hypotenuse (\( c \)) = 7 mm

We need to find the length of the other leg (\( b \)).

Plugging in the known values into the Pythagorean theorem:

\[
3^2 + b^2 = 7^2
\]

Calculating the squares:

\[
9 + b^2 = 49
\]

Now, isolate \( b^2 \):

\[
b^2 = 49 - 9
\]
\[
b^2 = 40
\]

Now take the square root of both sides to find \( b \):

\[
b = \sqrt{40}
\]

Calculating \( \sqrt{40} \):

\[
b \approx 6.3246
\]

Rounding to the nearest tenth:

\[
b \approx 6.3 \text{ mm}
\]

Thus, the length of the missing leg is approximately **6.3 mm**.