Question

How do you use the Pythagorean Theorem to determine if the following three numbers could represent the measures of the sides of a right triangle: 8,15,17?

Answer 1

`8,15,17` represent the measures of the sides of a right triangle.

Explanation:

To find whether the three numbers `8,15,17` could represent the measures of the sides of a right triangle or not using Pythagoras theorem, one need to check whether the square of the largest side (here `17`), is equal to sum of the squares of other two or not.

Here, `17^2=17xx17=289`

and `8^2+5^2=8xx8+15xx15=64+225=289`

As the two are equal, `8,15,17` represent the measures of the sides of a right triangle.