How do I find the value of x?Do the side lengths form a pythagorean triple?

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Answer 1 · 2017-03-16T01:16:47

$20$

Yes, the sides form a triple (it is a $3,4,5$ triangle, except on a bigger scale ( $4$ times bigger)).

$a^2+b^2=c^2$ .

In this case,
$12^2+16^2=c^2$
$400=c^2$ , and since $c$ is a side length, it must be the positive answer to the square root, or $20$ .

Answer 2 · 2017-03-16T01:29:14

$x=20$ ; See link

Use the Pythagorean theorem ( $a^2+b^2=c^2$ )

Lets label the right triangle such that:
$a= 12$
$b=16$
$c=x$

Thus,

$12^2+16^2=x^2$

$144+256=x^2$

$400=x^2$

$sqrt(400)=x$

$20=x$

So our missing side, $c$ is $20$

We can now say that the sides of our triangle are $12,16,20$

I've included a link that lists a couple of Pythagorean triples (a couple because they are infinitely many).

Answer 3 · 2017-03-16T19:05:45

$x=20$ , Yes.

$12 = 4 xx 3$

$16 = 4 xx 4$ ,

$3$ , $4$ , $5$ is a Pythagorean triple, so

$x = 4 xx 5$