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Right triangles and trigonometry SAT question

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

A square is inscribed in a circle. The radius of the circle is inches. What is the side length, in inches, of the square?

ExplanationShow

Choice A is correct. When a square is inscribed in a circle, a diagonal of the square is a diameter of the circle. It's given that a square is inscribed in a circle and the length of a radius of the circle is inches. Therefore, the length of a diameter of the circle is inches, or  inches. It follows that the length of a diagonal of the square is inches. A diagonal of a square separates the square into two right triangles in which the legs are the sides of the square and the hypotenuse is a diagonal. Since a square has congruent sides, each of these two right triangles has congruent legs and a hypotenuse of length inches. Since each of these two right triangles has congruent legs, they are both -- triangles. In a -- triangle, the length of the hypotenuse is times the length of a leg. Let represent the length of a leg of one of these -- triangles. It follows that . Dividing both sides of this equation by yields . Therefore, the length of a leg of one of these -- triangles is inches. Since the legs of these two -- triangles are the sides of the square, it follows that the side length of the square is inches.

Choice B is incorrect. This is the length of a radius, in inches, of the circle.

Choice C is incorrect. This is the length of a diameter, in inches, of the circle.

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

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