All ISEE Upper Level Quantitative Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #11 : How To Find The Length Of The Hypotenuse Of A Right Triangle : Pythagorean Theorem
Figure NOT drawn to scale.
In the above figure, is a right angle.
What is the length of ?
The altitude of a right triangle from the vertex of its right angle divides the triangle into two smaller triangles each similar to the larger triangle. In particular,
.
Their corresponding sides are in proportion, so, setting the ratios of the long legs to the short legs equal to each other,
By the Pythagorean Theorem.
The proportion statement becomes
Example Question #12 : How To Find The Length Of The Hypotenuse Of A Right Triangle : Pythagorean Theorem
Given: with , , .
Which is the greater quantity?
(a)
(b)
It is impossible to determine which is greater from the information given
(a) is the greater quantity
(b) is the greater quantity
(a) and (b) are equal
(a) is the greater quantity
The measure of the angle formed by the two shorter sides of a triangle can be determined to be acute, right, or obtuse by comparing the sum of the squares of those lengths to the square of the length of the opposite side. We compare:
; it follows that is obtuse, and has measure greater than
Example Question #13 : How To Find The Length Of The Hypotenuse Of A Right Triangle : Pythagorean Theorem
Figure NOT drawn to scale.
In the above figure, is a right angle.
What is the length of ?
The altitude of a right triangle from the vertex of its right angle divides the triangle into two smaller triangles each similar to the larger triangle. In particular,
.
Their corresponding sides are in proportion, so, setting the ratios of the hypotenuses to the short legs equal to each other,