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Right triangle calculator

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The right triangle calculator finds the missing area, angle, leg, hypotenuse and height of a triangle. The calculator also provides steps on how to solve the most important right triangles: the 30-60-90 triangle and the 45-45-90 triangle.

special triangle 45-45-90
Find two sides of a triangle ABC if leg a= $ 8$ hypotenuse c= $ 14$ .

Error: To solve a special triangle, you need to input just one of its sides.

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Script name : right-triangle-calculator

Form values: 4 , 8 , 14 , g , , , , , , , , , 1

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Special right triangle
Solve 30-60-90 and 45-45-90 triangles.
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Triangle type:
special triangle 30-60-90 special triangle 45-45-90
Provide one side of a right triangle
a =
b =
c =
 
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Triangle Calculator
Provide any two elements to get a third one.
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Solve for
Provide any two elements of a right triangle
a =
 
b =
c =
 
$ \alpha $ =
$ \beta $ =
 
A =
 
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Examples
ex 1:
Find the hypotenuse of a right triangle in whose legs are a=18cm and b=13/2 cm.
ex 2:
Find the angle α of a right triangle if hypotenuse c=8cm and leg a=4cm.
ex 3:
Find the hypotenuse c if α=50o and leg a=8.
ex 4:
Find the area of a right triangle in which β=30o and b=5/4cm.
Find more worked-out examples in our database of solved problems..

Right triangle

Right triangle is a type of triangle in which the measure of one angle is 90 degrees. The side opposite the right angle is called hypotenuse. The other two sides are called legs. This calculator uses the following formulas to find the missing elements of a right triangle.

Pythagorean Theorem: $$ a^2 + b^2 = c^2 $$ right triangle
Area: $$ A = \frac{a b}{2} $$
Trig. functions: $$ \sin \alpha = \frac{a}{c} $$
  $$ \cos \alpha = \frac{b}{c} $$
  $$ \tan \alpha = \frac{a}{b} $$

Find hypotenuse $ c $ of a right triangle if leg a = 4 cm and leg b = 8 cm.

The Pythagorean theorem is the key formula for calculating the missing sides of a right triangle. This theorem is useful when we need to find the third side if the two sides are given.

$$ \begin{aligned} c^2 &= a^2 + b^2 \\[ 1 em] c^2 &= 4^2 + 8^2 \\[ 1 em] c^2 &= 16 + 64 \\[ 1 em] c^2 &= 80 \\[ 1 em] c &= \sqrt{80} \\[ 1 em] c &= \sqrt{16 \cdot 5} \\[ 1 em] c &= 4\sqrt{5}\\ \end{aligned} $$

Find the angle $\alpha$ of a right triangle if hypotenuse c = 14 cm and leg a = 8 cm.

To find the missing angle, we must use trigonometric functions. For this example, the sine function is appropriate as we have the hypotenuse and side a.

$$ \begin{aligned} \sin \alpha & = \frac{a}{c} \\[1 em] \sin \alpha & = \frac{8}{14} \\[1 em] \sin \alpha & = 0.5714 \\[1 em] \alpha &= \sin^{-1} (0.5714) \\[1 em] \alpha & \approx \, 39^{o} \end{aligned} $$

Special triangle 30-60-90

Triangles with angles of 30o – 60o – 90o is most common in high school math because it can be solved without using trigonometry. When solving this triangle, calculator uses the fact that the ratio of sides is $ 1: \sqrt{3}: 2 $ (see the picture below).

special triangle 30 60 90

When solving 30-60-90 right trange three cases can occur:

Case 1: If the short leg is a = 10, then the side b is $ b = a \sqrt{3} = 10 \sqrt{3}$ and hypotenuse c is $ c = 2 * 10 = 20$.

Case 2: If the long leg is b = 12, then the leg a is $ a = \frac{b}{\sqrt{3}} = 12 \sqrt{3} = 4\sqrt{3} $ and hypotenuse c is $ c = 2 * a = 8\sqrt{3} $.

Case 3: If the hypotenuse c = 30, then the leg a is $ a = \frac{c}{2} = 15 $ and leg b is $ b = a \sqrt{3} = 15\sqrt{3} $.

Special triangle 45-45-90

Triangle with angles of 45o – 45o – 90o is the second type of special triangle. The ratio of sides for this triangle is $ 1: 1 : \sqrt{2} $. For example, if the shortest side a = 4, then the side b is also 4 and hypotenuse c is $ c = a * \sqrt{2} = 4\sqrt{2} $.

special triangle 45 45 90
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