## anonymous 5 years ago With the given lengths would this be a right triangle? (square root symbols) √11 yds, √5 yds, 16yds

1. anonymous

pythagorean theorem

2. anonymous

what do you know about Pythagorean theorem?

3. anonymous

a squared + b squared = c squared

4. anonymous

then why don't you try the combination and see if they satisfy the theorem.

5. anonymous

and make it equal 180 degrees for a triangle?

6. anonymous

square root off is 3.3

7. anonymous

I meant square root of 11 is 3.3

8. anonymous

huh? why are you making the problem more complicated than it is? They have given you lengths of the three sides of a triangle. All they want to know is if the triangle is a right angled triangle. The way to find out if a triangle is right angled or not is to see if its sides satisfy the pythagorean theorem. That is it. Don't try and make it harder for yourself.

9. anonymous

ok so two square roots and one is not... therefore no

10. anonymous

what?

11. anonymous

$(\sqrt{11})^{2}+(\sqrt{5})^{2} = ?$

12. anonymous

Ok I'm not sure... but I came up with 6.6 + 4.4 = 11 by definition: the square of the length of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the lengths of the legs. So again I would say this is not a right triangle ??

13. anonymous

yes, you are right. It is not a right angle triangle.

14. anonymous

was that right how I did the calculations tho? took square root of 11 times it by two .... the same for square root of 5 times by two and then add ... was that number supposed to add up to 16? to make it a right triangle?

15. anonymous

wait...3.3 squared plus 2.2 squared = 10.89 + 4.84 = 15.73 thats close to 16

16. anonymous

square root of 4 is 2. that means 2 times 2 is 4. that means $\sqrt{4} \times \sqrt{4} = 4$

17. anonymous

right

18. anonymous

so $(\sqrt{11})^{2} = \sqrt{11} \times \sqrt{11} = 11$

19. anonymous

oh I surely did not know that...

20. anonymous

the very fact that you are squaring square roots of a number means that you will get the number within the square root. That is the definition of square root.

21. anonymous

what did you think square root meant then?

22. anonymous

I don't know... I do know the square root of 81 is 9...

23. anonymous

stuff like that

24. anonymous

yes, square root of 81 is 9. that means that 9 times 9 is 81. similarly square root of 3 is 1.73205081 that means that 1.73205081 times 1.73205081 is 3.

25. anonymous

instead of calling it square root everytime, we write it is $\sqrt{3}$

26. anonymous

yes I know... not sure how to do symbols on line

27. anonymous

11 + 5 = 16 therefore it is a right triangle

28. anonymous

what is the third side? is it 16 or square root(16)

29. anonymous

just 16

30. anonymous

square root of 16 I know is 4

31. anonymous

so what does the pythagorean theorem say?

32. anonymous

I'm confused...... I already said it... I just dont know if these numbers are supposed to add up to something or have all perfect numbers from the roots? UGGGH

33. anonymous

or the two square roots equal 16? Please be patient with me....

34. anonymous

$(\sqrt{11})^{2} + (\sqrt{5})^{2} = 16 \neq 16^{2}$

35. anonymous

I'm ready to pull my hair out!!!

36. anonymous

Thank you. That makes sense... that was the part I wasnt sure of.

37. anonymous

Here is another one.... (√7)2 + (√2)2 = 9 does not equal √9 Not a right triangle

38. anonymous

Got it and thank you for your help!!!!!