On a recent test, Shawna was given the following problem:

Question

Triangle
The side is 25m
The bottom is 7m
The bottom is a
Shawna's work is shown below:
Step 1: a^2 + 7^2 = 25^2
Step 2: a^2 + 14 = 50
Step 3: a^2 = 36
a = 6 m
In which step did Shawna make an error?
(1 point)
• Step 3. She incorrectly isolated a^2
• Step 1. She incorrectly applied the Pythagorean theorem.
• Step 2. She incorrectly squared the numbers.
• Step 4. She incorrectly solved for a

Answer 1

The error in Shawna's work occurs in Step 2. She incorrectly squared the numbers.

Here's a breakdown of the steps:

• In Step 1, she applies the Pythagorean theorem correctly as \( a^2 + 7^2 = 25^2 \).
• In Step 2, instead of \( 7^2 = 49 \) and \( 25^2 = 625 \), she incorrectly calculated \( 7^2 = 14 \) and \( 25^2 = 50 \).
• This leads to a wrong equation in Step 2, which affects the outcome in Step 3.

So, the correct assessment is that Shawna made an error in Step 2 when squaring the numbers.