2 Answers

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, 'sans serif'">A right triangle has two sides perpendicular to each other. Side "a" and "b" are the perpendicular sides and side "c" is the hypotenuse (the long side).</font>

Example:  If side A = 6 and side B = 8, what is side C?

Formula:   a^2 + b^2 =  c^2

                    36  +  64  =  c^2

                         100      =  c^2

  You take the square root of 100 to get c^2

c = 10

Check problem:    a^2  +  b^2  =  c^2

                                  6^2  +  8^2  =  10^2

                                    36  +   64  =  100

                                         100       =  100

Example:  If side A = 4 and the hypotenuse is given, C = 25, what is side B?

                         a^2 + b^2 = c^2

                          16  + b^2 = 25

                          16 - 16 + b^2 = 25 - 16

                                           b^2  =  9

You take the square root of 9 to get b^2.

b = 3