Question


Finding the missing side of the right triangle. Round your answer to the nearest tenth.
the sides are 28 and 13

Answers

GPT-4o mini
To find the missing side of a right triangle when given two sides, we can apply the Pythagorean theorem, which states:

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

where \( c \) is the length of the hypotenuse (the longest side of the triangle), and \( a \) and \( b \) are the lengths of the other two sides.

Since we have two sides, we need to determine whether 28 or 13 is the hypotenuse.

1. If 28 is the hypotenuse:

\[
a^2 + b^2 = c^2 \\
13^2 + b^2 = 28^2 \\
169 + b^2 = 784 \\
b^2 = 784 - 169 \\
b^2 = 615 \\
b = \sqrt{615} \approx 24.8
\]

2. If 13 is the hypotenuse, it’s impossible since 13 is less than 28.

So, we conclude that 28 is the hypotenuse, and the missing side \( b \) is approximately:

\[
\boxed{24.8}
\]

when rounded to the nearest tenth.