MHB 30-60-90 triangle side lengths

  • Thread starter Thread starter jimhayes
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Triangle
AI Thread Summary
In a 30-60-90 triangle with a long leg measuring 8, the short leg is represented as x, and the hypotenuse as 2x. The relationship between the sides indicates that the long leg equals x times the square root of 3. By setting up the equation x times the square root of 3 equal to 8, the value of x is calculated as 8 divided by the square root of 3, which simplifies to 8 times the square root of 3 over 3. Consequently, the short leg measures 8 times the square root of 3 over 3, and the hypotenuse is 16 times the square root of 3 over 3.
jimhayes
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
I have a 30-60-90 triangle with the length of 8 for the long leg. I am trying to find the lengths of the other two legs. I believe the short leg is x, and hypotenuse is 2x, and the long leg is x times the \sqrt{3}. I put x times \sqrt{3}=8 although I am not sure how to do this formula to find the value of x. I also don't have a calculator with square root functions.
 
Mathematics news on Phys.org
jimhayes said:
I have a 30-60-90 triangle with the length of 8 for the long leg. I am trying to find the lengths of the other two legs. I believe the short leg is x, and hypotenuse is 2x, and the long leg is x times the \sqrt{3}. I put x times \sqrt{3}=8 although I am not sure how to do this formula to find the value of x. I also don't have a calculator with square root functions.

short leg: $x$
hypotenuse: $2x$
long leg: $x \cdot \sqrt{3}$

It is given that the long leg is $8$, so $\displaystyle{x \cdot \sqrt{3}=8 \Rightarrow x=\frac{8}{\sqrt{3}}=\frac{8 \cdot \sqrt{3}}{\sqrt{3} \cdot \sqrt{3}}=\frac{8 \cdot \sqrt{3}}{3}}$

So, the short leg is $\displaystyle{\frac{8 \cdot \sqrt{3}}{3}}$ and the hypotenuse is $\displaystyle{2\frac{8 \cdot \sqrt{3}}{3}=\frac{16 \cdot \sqrt{3}}{3}}$
 
Thread 'Video on imaginary numbers and some queries'
Hi, I was watching the following video. I found some points confusing. Could you please help me to understand the gaps? Thanks, in advance! Question 1: Around 4:22, the video says the following. So for those mathematicians, negative numbers didn't exist. You could subtract, that is find the difference between two positive quantities, but you couldn't have a negative answer or negative coefficients. Mathematicians were so averse to negative numbers that there was no single quadratic...
Insights auto threads is broken atm, so I'm manually creating these for new Insight articles. In Dirac’s Principles of Quantum Mechanics published in 1930 he introduced a “convenient notation” he referred to as a “delta function” which he treated as a continuum analog to the discrete Kronecker delta. The Kronecker delta is simply the indexed components of the identity operator in matrix algebra Source: https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/what-exactly-is-diracs-delta-function/ by...
Thread 'Unit Circle Double Angle Derivations'
Here I made a terrible mistake of assuming this to be an equilateral triangle and set 2sinx=1 => x=pi/6. Although this did derive the double angle formulas it also led into a terrible mess trying to find all the combinations of sides. I must have been tired and just assumed 6x=180 and 2sinx=1. By that time, I was so mindset that I nearly scolded a person for even saying 90-x. I wonder if this is a case of biased observation that seeks to dis credit me like Jesus of Nazareth since in reality...
Back
Top