Question

one of the legs of a right - triangle measures 3 cm and the other leg measures 18 cm. find the measure of the hypotenuse. if necessary, round to the nearest tenth.

Explanation:

Step1: Recall Pythagorean theorem

$a^{2}+b^{2}=c^{2}$, where $a$ and $b$ are legs, $c$ is hypotenuse.

Step2: Substitute values

Let $a = 3$ and $b = 18$. Then $3^{2}+18^{2}=c^{2}$. Calculate $3^{2}=9$ and $18^{2}=324$. So $9 + 324=c^{2}$, which is $c^{2}=333$.

Step3: Solve for $c$

$c=\sqrt{333}\approx18.2$.

Answer:

$18.2$ cm