Right-angled triangles

These triangles are useful for Pythagoras’ theorem.

The longest side is called the hypotenuse and it is always opposite the right angle. In this example it is marked ‘a’.

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The square of the length opposite to the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the square of the other lengths.

The formula: <strong>{ a }^{ 2 }+{ b }^{ 2 }+{ c }^{ 2 }</strong></strong>

Pythagoras’ theorem can only work for right-angled triangles.

Example: work out the length of BR

{ BR }^{ 2 }={ 4 }^{ 2 }+{ 7 }^{ 2 }

{ BR }^{ 2 }=65 (now find the square root of 65)

BR=8.1cm

If you want to find the length of another side, you can rearrange the formula.

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