Right triangle Right triangle A right triangle (American English) or right-angled triangle (British English) is a triangle in which one angle is a right angle (that is, a 90-degree angle). The relation between the sides and angles of a right triangle is the basis for trigonometry. The side opposite the right angle is called the "hypotenuse" (side "c" in the figure). The sides adjacent to the right angle are called "legs" (or "catheti", singular: "cathetus"). Side "a" may be identified as the side "adjacent to angle B" and "opposed to" (or "opposite") "angle A", while side "b" is the side "adjacent to
Triangle it relatively easy to measure the length of each side, but relatively difficult to construct a 'height'. Various methods may be used in practice, depending on what is known about the triangle. The following is a selection of frequently used formulae for the area of a triangle. The height of a triangle can be found through the application of trigonometry. "Knowing SAS": Using the labels in the image on the right, the altitude is . Substituting this in the formula formula_26 derived above, the area of the triangle can be expressed as: (where α is the interior angle at "A",