Use the relationships in 45-45-90 triangles to solve the following problem. If the hypotenuse of a triangle is 4 cm, what is the length of the leg?(1 point)

Responses

2 cm
2 cm

42–√ cm
4 Start Root 2 End Root cm

23–√ cm
2 Start Root 3 End Root cm

22–√ cm

1 answer

In a 45-45-90 triangle, the lengths of the legs are equal, and the relationship between the length of the legs (let's call it \( x \)) and the length of the hypotenuse \( h \) can be expressed as:

\[ h = x\sqrt{2} \]

Given that the hypotenuse \( h \) is 4 cm, we can set up the equation:

\[ 4 = x\sqrt{2} \]

To find \( x \), we can solve for it:

\[ x = \frac{4}{\sqrt{2}} \]

To simplify \( x \), we can multiply the numerator and denominator by \( \sqrt{2} \):

\[ x = \frac{4\sqrt{2}}{2} = 2\sqrt{2} \]

Thus, the length of each leg is \( 2\sqrt{2} \) cm. Therefore, the correct response is:

\( 2\sqrt{2} , \text{cm} \).