Prentice Hall Algebra 1

Practice and Problem-Solving Exercises

A Practice

See Problems 1 and 2.

Use the triangle below. Find the missing side length. If necessary, round to the nearest tenth.

A right triangle with leg lengths a and b. The hypotenuse measures c.

  1. eh equals 3 comma b equals 4
  2. eh equals 6 comma c equals 10
  3. b equals 1 comma c equals , 5 fourths
  4. eh equals 5 comma c equals 13
  5. eh equals 0.3 comma b equals 0.4
  6. eh equals 8 comma b equals 15
  7. eh equals 1 comma c equals , 5 thirds
  8. b equals 6 comma c equals 7.5
  9. b equals 3.5 comma c equals 3.7
  10. eh equals 1.1 comma b equals 6
  11. eh equals 8 comma c equals 17
  12. eh equals 9 comma b equals 40
  13. b equals 2.4 comma c equals 7.4
  14. eh equals 4 comma b equals 7.5
  15. eh equals 0.9 comma c equals 4.1
  16. Fitness A jogger goes half a mile north and then turns west. If the jogger finishes 1.3 mi from the starting point, how far west did the jogger go?
  17. Construction A construction worker is cutting along the diagonal of a rectangular board 15 ft long and 8 ft wide. What will be the length of the cut?

See Problem 3.

Determine whether the given lengths can be side lengths of a right triangle.

  1. 15 ft, 36 ft, 39 ft
  2. 12 m, 60 m, 61 m
  3. 13 in., 35 in., 38 in.
  4. 16 cm, 63 cm, 65 cm
  5. 14 in., 48 in., 50 in.
  6. 16 yd, 30 yd, 34 yd

B Apply

  1. Swimming A swimmer asks a question to a lifeguard sitting on a tall chair, as shown in the diagram. The swimmer needs to be close to the lifeguard to hear the answer. What is the distance between the swimmer's head and the lifeguard's head?

A lifeguard sits on a chair. The top of his head is 11 feet off the ground. He is 8 feet from the swimmer. The top of the swimmer’s head is 5 feet off the ground.

Any set of three positive integers that satisfies the equation bold italic eh squared , plus , bold italic b squared , equals , bold italic c squared  is a Pythagorean triple. Determine whether each set of numbers is a Pythagorean triple.

  1. 11, 60, 61
  2. 13, 84, 85
  3. 40, 41, 58
  4. 50, 120, 130
  5. 32, 126, 130
  6. 28, 45, 53
  7. Think About a Plan A banner shaped like a right triangle has a hypotenuse of length 26 ft and a leg of length 10 ft. What is the area of the banner?
    • What information do you need to find the area of a triangle?
    • How can you find the length of the other leg?
  8. History Originally, each face of the Great Pyramid of Giza was a triangle with the dimensions shown. How far was a corner of the base from the pyramid's top? Round to the nearest foot.

    The face of the Great Pyramid is divided into 2 mirror-image right triangles with side length a on the base of the Pyramid. Side length a of each of the triangles is 378 feet. Side length b is 612 feet. The length of the hypotenuse is unknown.

  9. Two sides of a right triangle measure 10 in. and 8 in.
    1. Writing Explain why this is not enough information to be sure of the length of the third side.
    2. Give two possible values for the length of the third side.

End ofPage 603

Table of Contents

Prentice Hall Algebra 1 Chapter 1 Foundations for Algebra Chapter 2 Solving Equations Chapter 3 Solving Inequalities Chapter 4 An Introduction to Functions Chapter 5 Linear Functions Chapter 6 Systems of Equations and Inequalities Chapter 7 Exponents and Exponential Functions Chapter 8 Polynomials and Factoring Chapter 9 Quadratic Functions and Equations Chapter 10 Radical Expressions and Equations Chapter 11 Rational Expressions and Functions Chapter 12 Data Analysis and Probability Skills Handbook Reference Visual Glossary Selected Answers Index Acknowledgments