Special Shortcuts for 45-45-90 and 30-60-90 Triangles
45-45-90 Triangle If you know the length of the leg, multiply that by 2 to find the length of the hypotenuse.
Do problems 1-3 on handout
45-45-90 Triangle If you know the length of the hypotenuse and you want the length of the leg, divide the length of the hypotenuse by 2.
Do problems 4-6 on handout
30-60-90 Triangle When working with a 30-60-90 triangle, you will have three different lengths: Short leg Long leg Hypotenuse
30-60-90 Triangle If you know the length of the short leg: The length of the hypotenuse is twice the length of the short leg. The length of the long leg is the length of the short leg multiplied by 3.
Do problems 7-9
30-60-90 Triangle If you know the length of the hypotenuse: Find the length of the short leg by dividing the length of the hypotenuse by 2. Now that you know the length of the short leg, multiply it by 3 to find the length of the long leg.
Do problems 10-12
30-60-90 Triangle If you know the length of the long leg: Find the length of the short leg by dividing the length of the long leg by 3. Now that you know the length of the short leg, multiply it by 2 to find the length of the hypotenuse.
Do problems 13-15