<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>