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Geometry - right angle

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Geometry - right angle

by vineetbatra » Sat Apr 03, 2010 11:12 am
I have a general question. If the hypotenuse of a right triangle is 5, can I assume that the other 2 sides are 3 & 4 (doesn't matter which one is base or height). Similary if I know one side is 3, can I assume other side is 4 and hypotenuse is 5.

Will appreciate a response.

Vineet
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by eaakbari » Sat Apr 03, 2010 11:26 am
If you know any two sides then only can you assume the third. If you know 3 and 5, then definitely the other one is 4.

Ill give you an example
If you find one side 3, you cannot assume the rest to be 4 and 5
Another case may be (3,3,3root2) which is multiple of another common triplet 1,1,root2

Similarly for others
Hope that helps
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by harshavardhanc » Sat Apr 03, 2010 11:41 am
eaakbari wrote:If you know any two sides then only can you assume the third. If you know 3 and 5, then definitely the other one is 4.

Ill give you an example
If you find one side 3, you cannot assume the rest to be 4 and 5
Another case may be (3,3,3root2) which is multiple of another common triplet 1,1,root2

Similarly for others
Hope that helps
Ditto !

I think unless until specified that measures of all the sides are integers, we cannot assume that the other two will be 3 and 4 when the hypotenuse is 5. If all the sides are integers, then yes, we can conclude that the triplet should be 5,4, and 3.
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Harsha
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by thephoenix » Sat Apr 03, 2010 11:53 am
vineetbatra wrote:I have a general question. If the hypotenuse of a right triangle is 5, can I assume that the other 2 sides are 3 & 4 (doesn't matter which one is base or height). Similary if I know one side is 3, can I assume other side is 4 and hypotenuse is 5.

Will appreciate a response.

Vineet
as the angle changes with same hypotenuous the altitude and base changes
see diagram
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by vineetbatra » Sat Apr 03, 2010 5:20 pm
Thanks guys, that makes sense.
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