Question

A carpenter builds a rectangular bookcase that is 120 cm long and 62 cm tall. The carpenter uses two braces along the diagonals to support the bookcase. What is the length of the one of the braces, to the nearest tenth of a centimeter? Enter your answer as a decimal in the box.

Answer 1

135.1

Explanation:

Answer 2

For this question, you should use the Pythagorean Theorem, because there's a right triangle.

a² + b² = c²

We're looking for the length of the braces, which is the hypotenuse. It's represented by the "c" value, so we have to solve for "c".

We're told that what the "a" & "b" value is.

a² + b² = c²
62² + 120² = c²
3,844 + 14,400 = c²
18,244 = c²

√c² = c = √18,244 = 2√4561 ≈ 135.07