MHB 30-60-90 triangle side lengths

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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.
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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.
 
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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 $\displaystyle{2\frac{8 \cdot \sqrt{3}}{3}=\frac{16 \cdot \sqrt{3}}{3}}$
 
Here is a little puzzle from the book 100 Geometric Games by Pierre Berloquin. The side of a small square is one meter long and the side of a larger square one and a half meters long. One vertex of the large square is at the center of the small square. The side of the large square cuts two sides of the small square into one- third parts and two-thirds parts. What is the area where the squares overlap?

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