Directions: Solve the problem and select the best of the answer choice...
The correct response is (A). If we know the longest side is “z,” we can label the other two sides as “z-4” and “z-2” respectively because we know that “consecutive even” means each side differs from its next-largest neighbor by 2. For example: 6, 8, 10.
We would use the Pythagorean Theorem to find the value of z:
a2 + b2 = c2
(z – 2)2 + (z – 4)2 = z2
Remember that “c” is always the hypotenuse, or the longest side. Only choice (A) matches this equation.
View all questions of this test
Directions: Solve the problem and select the best of the answer choice...
The correct response is (A). If we know the longest side is “z,” we can label the other two sides as “z-4” and “z-2” respectively because we know that “consecutive even” means each side differs from its next-largest neighbor by 2. For example: 6, 8, 10.
We would use the Pythagorean Theorem to find the value of z:
a2 + b2 = c2
(z – 2)2 + (z – 4)2 = z2
Remember that “c” is always the hypotenuse, or the longest side. Only choice (A) matches this equation.
Directions: Solve the problem and select the best of the answer choice...
The longest side of a right triangle is always the hypotenuse. In a right triangle with consecutive even integers as sides, we can represent the sides as x, x+2, and x+4 (since consecutive even integers are always 2 units apart).
To find the hypotenuse (z), we can use the Pythagorean theorem, which states that in a right triangle, the sum of the squares of the two shorter sides is equal to the square of the hypotenuse.
Using this information, we can set up the equation:
(x)^2 + (x+2)^2 = (x+4)^2
Expanding and simplifying:
x^2 + (x^2 + 4x + 4) = x^2 + 8x + 16
Combining like terms:
2x^2 + 4x + 4 = x^2 + 8x + 16
Moving all terms to one side:
x^2 - 4x - 12 = 0
Now, we can solve this quadratic equation to find the possible values of x, which will give us the possible values of z.
Therefore, the correct equation that could be used to find z is:
c) x^2 - 4x - 12 = 0
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