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imc

geometry intermediate

Problem

The two legs of a right triangle, which are altitudes, have lengths and . How long is the third altitude of the triangle?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
Solution
We find that the area of the triangle is . By the Pythagorean Theorem, we have that the length of the hypotenuse is . Dropping an altitude from the right angle to the hypotenuse, we can calculate the area in another way. Let be the third height of the triangle. We have Note: The third altitude of a right triangle is always the product of the lengths of the two legs divided by the hypotenuse.
Final answer
C