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Right triangles and trigonometry SAT question

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

Triangle  is similar to triangle , where angle corresponds to angle and angles and are right angles. The length of  is times the length of . If , what is the value of ?

Enter a number or fraction (like 3/17 or 0.176). Press Enter to check.

ExplanationShow

The correct answer is . It's given that triangle is similar to triangle , where angle corresponds to angle and angles and are right angles. In similar triangles, the tangents of corresponding angles are equal. Therefore, if , then . In a right triangle, the tangent of an acute angle is the ratio of the length of the leg opposite the angle to the length of the leg adjacent to the angle. Therefore, in triangle , if , the ratio of the length of to the length of  is . If the lengths of and  are and , respectively, then the ratio of the length of  to the length of  is . In a right triangle, the sine of an acute angle is the ratio of the length of the leg opposite the angle to the length of the hypotenuse. Therefore, the value of is the ratio of the length of  to the length of . The length of  can be calculated using the Pythagorean theorem, which states that if the lengths of the legs of a right triangle are and and the length of the hypotenuse is , then . Therefore, if the lengths of and  are and , respectively, then , or . Taking the positive square root of both sides of this equation yields . Therefore, if the lengths of  and  are and , respectively, then the length of is and the ratio of the length of to the length of is . Thus, if , the value of  is . Note that 21/29, .7241, and 0.724 are examples of ways to enter a correct answer.

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