All ACT Math Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #61 : Right Triangles
If the base of a right triangle is 5 cm long and the height of the triangle is 7 cm longer than the base, what is the length of the third side of the triangle in cm?
Find the height of the triangle
Use the Pythagorean Theorem to solve for the length of the third side, or hypotenuse.
Example Question #44 : Right Triangles
Given the right triangle in the diagram, what is the length of the hypotenuse?
To find the length of the hypotenuse use the Pythagorean Theorem:
Where and are the legs of the triangle, and is the hypotenuse.
The hypotenuse is 10 inches long.
Example Question #45 : Right Triangles
Triangle ABC is a right triangle. If the length of side A = 3 inches and C = 5 inches, what is the length of side B?
4 inches
6 inches
1 inches
1/2 inches
4.5 inches
4 inches
Using the Pythagorean Theorem, we know that .
This gives:
Subtracting 9 from both sides of the equation gives:
inches
Example Question #52 : Right Triangles
Triangle ABC is a right triangle. If the length of side A = 8 inches and B = 11 inches, find the length of the hypoteneuse (to the nearest tenth).
13.6 inches
14.2 inches
184 inches
13.7 inches
185 inches
13.6 inches
Using the Pythagrean Theorem, we know that .
This tells us:
Taking the square root of both sides, we find that inches
Example Question #43 : Triangles
Given:
A = 6 feet
B = 9 feet
What is the length of the hypoteneuse of the triangle (to the nearest tenth)?
10.2 feet
10.8 feet
10.5 feet
10.1 feet
10.6 feet
10.8 feet
Using the Pythagrean Theorem, we know that .
This tells us:
Taking the square root of both sides, we find that
Example Question #61 : Right Triangles
Given:
A = 2 miles
B = 3 miles
What is the length of the hypoteneuse of triangle ABC, to the nearest tenth?
3.6 miles
3.5 miles
3.4 miles
3.7 miles
3.2 miles
3.6 miles
Using the Pythagrean Theorem, we know that .
This tells us:
Taking the square root of both sides, we find that
Example Question #53 : Right Triangles
Given that two sides of a right triangle measure 2 feet and 3 feet, respectively, with a hypoteneuse of x, what is the perimeter of this right triangle (to the nearest tenth)?
3.6 feet
9.4 feet
8.6 feet
6.4 feet
18 feet
8.6 feet
Using the Pythagrean Theorem, we know that .
This tells us:
Taking the square root of both sides, we find that
To find the perimeter, we add the side lengths together, which gives us that the perimeter is:
Example Question #54 : Right Triangles
Example Question #62 : Right Triangles
Kathy and Jill are travelling from their home to the same destination. Kathy travels due east and then after travelling 6 miles turns and travels 8 miles due north. Jill travels directly from her home to the destination. How miles does Jill travel?
Kathy's path traces the outline of a right triangle with legs of 6 and 8. By using the Pythagorean Theorem
miles