Jerrod found the length of the hypotenuse of a right triangle with legs that are 3 ft and 1 ft. Is his answer correct?

c2=32+12


c2=9+1


c2=8


c=8–√


(1 point)
Responses

No, he set up the Pythagorean theorem incorrectly.
No, he set up the Pythagorean theorem incorrectly.

Yes, he correctly calculated the length of the hypotenuse.
Yes, he correctly calculated the length of the hypotenuse.

No, he subtracted 1 and 9 instead of adding.
No, he subtracted 1 and 9 instead of adding.

No, he made an error finding the square root.

1 answer

Let’s evaluate Jerrod’s work step by step:

  1. The Pythagorean theorem states that \( c^2 = a^2 + b^2 \), where \( c \) is the length of the hypotenuse, and \( a \) and \( b \) are the lengths of the legs of the right triangle.
  2. For this triangle, the legs are given as 3 ft and 1 ft. Therefore, we can set up the equation as follows: \[ c^2 = 3^2 + 1^2 \]
  3. Calculating the squares: \[ c^2 = 9 + 1 \] So, \[ c^2 = 10 \]
  4. Taking the square root to find \( c \): \[ c = \sqrt{10} \]

Now, let’s analyze Jerrod's work:

  • He started with \( c^2 = 3^2 + 1^2 \) but then wrote \( c^2 = 32 + 12 \), which is incorrect.
  • His calculations show he substituted incorrectly, leading to \( c^2 = 8 \) instead of \( c^2 = 10 \).

Thus, Jerrod made mistakes in both setting up the equation and calculating it.

The correct response is: No, he set up the Pythagorean theorem incorrectly.