Question Bank / Math / Right Triangles and Trigonometry

Right triangles and trigonometry SAT question

Math · Geometry and Trigonometry · Hard · Answer it here, explanation included.

Triangle is similar to triangle , where corresponds to and corresponds to . Angles and are right angles. If and , what is the length of ?

ExplanationShow

Choice D is correct. Corresponding angles in similar triangles have equal measures. It's given that triangle is similar to triangle , where corresponds to , so the measure of angle is equal to the measure of angle . Therefore, if , then . It's given that angles and are right angles, so triangles and are right triangles. The adjacent side of an acute angle in a right triangle is the side closest to the angle that is not the hypotenuse. It follows that the adjacent side of angle is side . The opposite side of an acute angle in a right triangle is the side across from the acute angle. It follows that the opposite side of angle is side . The tangent of an acute angle in a right triangle is the ratio of the length of the opposite side to the length of the adjacent side. Therefore, . If , the length of side can be found by substituting for  and for in the equation , which yields . Multiplying both sides of this equation by yields . Since the length of side is times the length of side , it follows that triangle  is a special right triangle with angle measures , , and . Therefore, the length of the hypotenuse, , is times the length of side , or . Substituting for in this equation yields , or . Thus, if  and , the length of  is .

Choice A is incorrect and may result from conceptual or calculation errors.

Choice B is incorrect and may result from conceptual or calculation errors.

Choice C is incorrect. This is the length of , not .

Drill this skill on Aceit

Adaptive practice, a daily plan, and score tracking take a free account so we can save your work.

Practice this skill

More Right triangles and trigonometry questions