Question

A triangle has sides with lengths of 63 feet, 65 feet, and 16 feet. Is it a right triangle?

Answer 1

`4225 = 4225` therefore this is a right triangle.

Explanation:

For a triangle to be a right triangle you can substitute the legs of the triangle (16 and 63) and the hypotenuse (65) into the Pythagorean Theorem. If the two sides of the equation are equal it is a right triangle. If they are not equal this is not a right triangle.

The Pythagorean Theorem is:

`a^2 + b^2 = c^2`

Substituting and calculating gives:

`16^2 + 63^2 = 65^2`

`256 + 3969 = 4225`

`4225 = 4225`