Hi Eliza,
The Pythagorean Theorem should work! Let's look:
For one triangle you get:
8^2 - 4^2 = x^2 ---> x^2 = 48
For the other you get
4^2 + 4^2 = y^2 ---> y^2 = 32
So x^2 > y^2 so x must be greater than y.
You should know the 30-60-90 and 45-45-90 triangles ratios too, though :)
Happy to clarify! You're correct that when we say the hypotenuse is the longest side of a triangle, we are only referring to the three sides of one specific triangle. That's the case here, as we're able to show that x, one of the legs of the first triangle, has a greater length than y, the hypotenuse of the second triangle:
3 Explanations