where a and b are the two shortest legs of the triangle, keeping in mind that the longest side of a triangle is the hypotenuse.
Since we are given with the length of a short leg and the hypotenuse, we can calculate for the length of the second short leg through the Pythagorean Theorem which is given as
c^2=a^2+b^2
Hence,
(39)^2=(15)^2+b^2 1521=225+b^2 1296=b^2 b=36 feet
The length of the other short leg is then 36 ft. Substituting this to the formula of the area we have
A=(1/2)(15)(36) A=270 ft^2
The area of the specified right triangle is 270 square feet.
