Question

a rectangular garden has a length of 20 yards and a width of 42 yards. A diagonal path runs from one end of the garden to the other. How long is the diagonal path?

Answer 1

Hi there!

Since we have a right-angled triangle, we can use the Pythagorean Theorem to find our answer. The Pythagorean Theorem states the following:

`{ a}^(2) + {b}^(2) = {c}^(2)`

In this formula a and b represent the legs of the triangle and c represents the length of the hypotenuse.

Let's substitute our data from the question.

`{42}^(2) + 20 {}^(2) = c {}^(2)`

Square.

`1764 + 400 = c {}^(2)`

Add.

`2164 = c {}^(2)`

And finally take the root of both sides. We only need to use the positive solution, since the length of the hypotenuse can't be negative.

`c = √(2164)`

The answer is B.