What is the length of b in a right triangle if a=2a=2 and c=24c=24?

1 Answer
Oct 25, 2014

For this problem we have to use the Pythagorean Theorem.

a^2+b^2=c^2a2+b2=c2

where aa and bb are the lengths of the legs and cc is the length of the hypotenuse.

(2)^2+b^2=(24)^2(2)2+b2=(24)2

b^2=(24)^2-(2)^2b2=(24)2(2)2

sqrt(b^2)=sqrt((24)^2-(2)^2)b2=(24)2(2)2

b=sqrt((24)^2-(2)^2)b=(24)2(2)2

b=sqrt(576-4)b=5764

b=sqrt(572)b=572

b=sqrt(4*143)b=4143

b=2sqrt(143)b=2143