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| Math Central | Quandaries & Queries |
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Question from ASHLEY, a student: WHAT IS THE AREA OF A RIGHT TRIANGLE? WITH THE SHORT SIDE BEING 16 AND THE HYPOTENUSE 20? |
Hi Ashley,
If you have a right triangle with sides of length a and b and hypotenuse of length h the Pythagoras Theorem says
a2 + b2 = h2
You have a = 16 and h = 20 so you can substitute these values into the equation above and solve for b. Then use the fact that the area of a triangle is half the base times the height to calculate the area.
Penny
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