A right triangle has legs of 5 cm and 12 cm. What is the length of its hypotenuse?

Answer and explanation

Correct answer: D. 13 cm

  1. Step 1: By Pythagoras, . Step 2. So cm. Answer: 13 cm. Why not the others: 17 cm adds the legs without squaring them, cm subtracts the squares as if 12 cm were the hypotenuse, and 30 is the area of the triangle in square centimetres, not a length.

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