swerve wrote:A 45° - 45° - 90° right triangle has hypotenuse of length h. What is the area of the triangle in terms of h?
$$A.\ \frac{h}{\sqrt{2}}$$
$$B.\ \frac{h}{2}$$
$$C.\ \frac{h}{4}$$
$$D.\ h^2$$
$$E.\ \frac{h^2}{4}$$
The sides of a 45-45-90 triangle are in the following ratio:
s : s : s√2.
Let s=1, implying that h = s√2 = (1)(√2) = √2.
In a 45-45-90 triangle, the legs constitute the base and height.
Since each leg has a length of 1, we get:
Area = (1/2)bh = (1/2)(1)(1) = 1/2.
The question stem asks for the value of the area: 1/2.
Now plug h=√2 into the answers to see which yields the target value of 1/2.
Only
E works:
h²/4 = (√2)²/4 = 2/4 = 1/2.
The correct answer is
E.
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