<p>pg 970, number 18. It gives you a right riangle with legs parallel to the x and y axes. It also gives you the hypothuse as lying on line that goes through the points 4,10 and 0,0. Then it asks which of the following could be sides of the triangle. …</p>
<p>Explanation for Correct Answer A. Choice (A) is correct. Since the triangle is a right triangle, the lengths of its sides must satisfy the Pythagorean theorem. Since the legs of the triangle are parallel to the coordinate axes, and the hypotenuse lies along a line with slope 5/2 the lengths of the legs must be in the ratio 5/2 . The only answer choice that has these two properties is (A).</p>
<p>really stupid question, but why do the sides have to be in the ratio of 5/2?</p>
<p>If you notice, points A and B are points on the line with a slope of 5/2. Therefore, if you calculate the slope between A and B, the slope would be 5/2s. Slope is rise over run so the distance between C and B must be 5* and the distance between A and C must be 2* for the slope between A and B to be 5/2. </p>
<p>*the distances don’t necessarily have to be 5 and 2, i just said that to make it easier to understand but they must fit the ratio (like the BB explanation said) in order for the slope to be 5/2s. </p>
<p>I’m not that great at explaining but i hope that helps</p>
<p>actually, that makes sense. I knew how to get the slope- I just couldn’t relate it to the length of the sides.</p>
<p>stop promoting that book. if you have Collegeboard’s new blue book, you can get complete answer explanations by collegeboard for free online.</p>