All SSAT Upper Level Math Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #41 : Right Triangles
A right triangle has leg lengths of . What is the area of this triangle?
Since the legs of a right triangle form a right angle, you can use these as the base and the height of the triangle.
Example Question #42 : Right Triangles
A right triangle has leg lengths of and . Find the area of the right triangle.
The legs of a right triangle also make up its base and its height.
Example Question #43 : Right Triangles
A right triangle has leg lengths of and . Find the area of this triangle.
The legs of a right triangle are also its height and its base.
Example Question #4 : How To Find The Area Of A Right Triangle
A right triangle has two legs of lengths and , respectively. What is the area of the right triangle?
The area of a right triangle with a base and a height can be found with the formula . Since the two legs of a right triangle are perpendicular to each other, we can use these as the base and height in the formula. Therefore:
Example Question #44 : Properties Of Triangles
A given right triangle has two legs of lengths and , respectively. What is the area of the triangle?
Not enough information to solve
The area of a right triangle with a base and a height can be found with the formula . Since the two legs of a right triangle are perpendicular to each other, we can use these as the base and height in the formula. Therefore:
Example Question #6 : How To Find The Area Of A Right Triangle
A given right triangle has legs of lengths and , respectively. What is the area of the right triangle?
Not enough information available
The area of a right triangle with a base and a height can be found with the formula . Since the two legs of a right triangle are perpendicular to each other, we can use these as the base and height in the formula. Therefore:
Example Question #4 : How To Find The Area Of A Right Triangle
The lengths of the hypotenuses of ten similar right triangles form an arithmetic sequence. The smallest triangle has legs of lengths 3 and 4 inches; the second-smallest triangle has a hypotenuse of length one foot.
Which of the following responses comes closest to the area of the largest triangle?
7 square feet
6 square feet
8 square feet
9 square feet
5 square feet
8 square feet
The hypotenuse of the smallest triangle can be calculated using the Pythagorean Theorem:
inches.
Let be the lengths of the hypotenuses of the triangles in inches. and , so their common difference is
The arithmetic sequence formula is
The length of the hypotenuse of the largest triangle - the tenth triangle - can be found by substituting :
inches.
The largest triangle has hypotenuse of length 68 inches. Since the triangles are similar, corresponding sides are in proportion. If we let and be the lengths of the legs of the largest triangle, then
Similarly,
The area of a right triangle is half the product of its legs:
square inches.
Divide this by 144 to convert to square feet:
Of the given responses, 8 square feet is the closest, and is the correct choice.
Example Question #8 : How To Find The Area Of A Right Triangle
Figure NOT drawn to scale
In the above figure, is a right triangle. , , . What fraction of has been shaded in?
The length of the leg , which we will call , can be calculated by setting , the length of hypotenuse , and , the length of leg , and applying the Pythagorean Theorem:
.
Construct the altitude of - which is also that of , the shaded region - from to . We call the length of this altitude (height). The figure is seen below.
The area of is one half this height multiplied by the corresponding base length :
The area of , the shaded region - is, similarly,
Therefore, the fraction that is of is the fraction of their areas:
Substituting the measures of the two segments:
Example Question #11 : How To Find The Area Of A Right Triangle
What is the area of a right triangle whose hypotenuse is 13 inches and whose legs each measure a number of inches equal to an integer?
It cannot be determined from the information given.
We are looking for a Pythagorean triple - that is, three integers that satisfy the relationship . We know that , and the only Pythagorean triple with is . The legs of the triangle are therefore 5 and 12, and the area of the right triangle is
Example Question #1 : How To Find If Right Triangles Are Congruent
Given:
, where is a right angle; ;
, where is a right angle and ;
, where is a right angle and has perimeter 60;
, where is a right angle and has area 120;
, where is a right triangle and
Which of the following must be a false statement?
All of the statements given in the other responses are possible
has as its leg lengths 10 and 24, so the length of its hypotenuse, , is
Its perimeter is the sum of its sidelengths:
Its area is half the product of the lengths of its legs:
and have the same perimeter and area, respectively, as ; also, between and , corresponding angles are congruent. In the absence of other information, none of these three triangles can be eliminated as being congruent to .
However, and . Therefore, . Since a pair of corresponding sides is noncongruent, it follows that .
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