The legs of a right triangle measure 5 inches and 9 inches.
What is the measure of the smallest angle of the triangle?
Enter your answer, rounded to the nearest tenth of a degree, in the box.
+934 This defeats the entire purpose of our forum...We just had a thread on not posting just answers!!
+23246 If you draw the triangle on a sheet of graph paper, you will notice that the smallest angle is the one opposite the shortest side.
This is true for all triagles, not just right triangles.
Since the shortest side is 5, you'll want to find the angle opposite this side.
From that angle, the opposite side is 5 and the adjacent side is 9.
You have three trig formulas -- the one that has both opposite and adjacent in it is tangent.
tan(angle) = opp/adj --- tan(angle) = 5/9 ---> angle = tan--1( 5/9 )
Now, use a calculator to find the answer.
