There are different types of triangle which we have learnt; one of them is the right angled triangle in other words a right triangle. A triangle in which one of the angles is a right angle that is 90 degrees is called a right triangle. The longest side of a right triangle is called the Hypotenuse of a Right Triangle and the other two sides are called the legs of the right triangle. We use the Pythagorean Theorem in finding the hypotenuse of a Right Triangle. The Pythagorean Theorem states that ‘the sum of the squares of the two sides (legs) of a right triangle is equal to the square of the hypotenuse’. Let us assume the lengths of the legs of a right triangle to be ‘a’ and ‘b’ units and the hypotenuse length to be ‘c’. By using Pythagorean Theorem, we can calculate the hypotenuse of a right triangle,
(Hypotenuse) ^2 = (sum of the squares of the sides (legs)^2
c^2 = (a^2 +b^2)
This gives us the Hypotenuse of a Right Triangle formula, c = sqrt(a^2 + b^2)
Given the lengths of the sides or legs of a right triangle as 3 cm and 4 cm respectively, find the hypotenuse of the right triangle. Here we are given the lengths of the two sides a = 3cm and b = 4cm, we need to find c. let us apply the Pythagorean Theorem, we get, c = sqrt(a^2+b^2). a^2= (3)^2 = 9 and b^2 = (4)^2 = 16, that gives us a^2+b^2 = 9 +16 = 25. So c = sqrt(25) = +/- 5 , as length cannot be negative, the hypotenuse of the given right triangle is 5 cm.
Let us now learn how to calculate the Hypotenuse of a Right Triangle using the Pythagorean theorem given by hypotenuse = sqrt[(sum of the squares of the sides or legs)^2]. A ladder is placed against a wall of height 12 ft. The distance between the base of the ladder and the wall is 5ft, find the length of the ladder. In this problem, the triangle formed by the wall, the floor and the ladder is a right triangle and hence the length of the ladder would be the hypotenuse which we need to find. We are given the two lengths of the sides of the triangle which are 12ft and 5 ft respectively. We know c= sqrt(a^2 +b^2); here a = 12ft, b = 5 ft which gives us a^2 = 144 and b^2 = 25. So, c = sqrt(144 +25) = sqrt(169) = +/-13. The length of the ladder is 13 ft
