what is the length of the missing leg if necessary round to the nearest tenth 7m 4m b at the bottem is missing

1 answer

To find the length of the missing leg \( b \) in a right triangle, you can use the Pythagorean theorem, which states:

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

where \( c \) is the length of the hypotenuse, and \( a \) and \( b \) are the lengths of the other two legs.

In your case, you have:

  • One leg \( a = 4 \) m
  • The other leg \( b \) (which is unknown)
  • The hypotenuse \( c = 7 \) m

Plugging in the values, we get:

\[ 4^2 + b^2 = 7^2 \]

Calculating the squares:

\[ 16 + b^2 = 49 \]

Next, isolate \( b^2 \):

\[ b^2 = 49 - 16 \] \[ b^2 = 33 \]

Now, take the square root of both sides to find \( b \):

\[ b = \sqrt{33} \approx 5.744 \]

Rounding to the nearest tenth, the length of the missing leg \( b \) is approximately:

\[ b \approx 5.7 , \text{m} \]