Exploring Special Right Triangles
Use the slider to control the length of the smallest leg of the right triangles. Use the checkboxes to turn on/off the different triangles.
1. Turn on the 45-45-90 triangle and move the slider around to help you to answer the questions.
a. What do you notice about the lengths of the legs?
b. How does the length of the hypotenuse compare to the length of the legs?
c. Write a rule explaining the relationship between the lengths of the legs and hypotenuse in a 45-45-90 right triangle.
2. Turn off the 45-45-90 triangle, turn on the 30-60-90 triangle, and move the slider around.
a. What do you notice about the length of the smallest leg compared to the length of the hypotenuse?
b. What do you notice about the length of the smaller leg compared to the length of the larger leg?
c. Write a rule explaining the relationship between the lengths of the legs and hypotenuse in a 30-60-90 right triangle.