Answer:
The hypotenuse has a length of 6
Step-by-step explanation:
Remark
The first step is to create the 2 equations needed to solve this problem.
Then substitute one into the other.
Equations
c^2 + a^2 + b^2 = 72
c^2 = a^2 + b^2
Solution
c^2 + a^2 + b^2 = 72 The sum of the sides each squared of a right triangle = 72
c^2 = a^2 + b^2 The pythagorean theorem says the hypotenuse of the right triangle = the sum of the squares of two smaller sides. You can substitute the hypotenuse squared into the top equation for a^2 + b^2
c^2 + c^2 = 72
2c^2 = 72
c^2 = 36
c = 6. minus 6 is meaningless
