if a triangle has sides of lenghth 12 and 16 how long is the hypotenuse

To find the length of the hypotenuse of a right triangle, we can use the Pythagorean theorem, which states that in a right triangle, the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides.

Let the two sides of the triangle be 12 and 16. Using the Pythagorean theorem, we have:

Hypotenuse² = 12² + 16²
Hypotenuse² = 144 + 256
Hypotenuse² = 400

Taking the square root of both sides, we get:

sqrt(Hypotenuse²) = sqrt(400)
Hypotenuse = 20

Therefore, the length of the hypotenuse is 20 units.