HL congruence applies to which type of triangles?

• A. Right triangles
• B. Equilateral triangles
• C. Isosceles triangles
• D. Any triangles

Answer: (A)

Hypotenuse-Leg congruence is a rule that applies only to right triangles. If two right triangles have their hypotenuse lengths equal and one leg on each triangle equal to the corresponding leg, then the triangles are congruent and all their other sides and angles match. The right-angle condition is essential here because the hypotenuse is defined only for right triangles, and that specific pairing of hypotenuse and a leg fixes the shape uniquely. For non-right triangles, there isn’t a hypotenuse in the same sense, so knowing a longest side and another side doesn’t force the entire triangle to be the same; different non-right triangles can share those two lengths. So the answer is that this congruence applies to right triangles.