Find the length of the third side. If necessary, round to the nearest tenth.

a is unknown
18
16
c2-b2=a2

1 answer

Since c^2 - b^2 = a^2, we can substitute in the values given:

a^2 = c^2 - b^2
a^2 = 18^2 - 16^2
a^2 = 324 - 256
a^2 = 68

To find the length of the third side, we take the square root of both sides:

a = √68
a ≈ 8.2

Therefore, the length of the third side is approximately 8.2.