Question

Joel is laying pipe for a sprinkler system before he plants his lawn. The lawn is a rectangle, 15 feet long and 8 feet wide. He needs to lay a piece of pipe that will run along the diagonal of the lawn. It will divide the area of the lawn into two right triangles. What will be the length of the pipe?

A. 120 feet
B. 17 feet
C. 23 feet
D. 289 feet

Answer 1

B. 17 Feet. Because you would use pythagorean theorm thing

Answer 2

Answer: B is the right answer. Diameter of the given rectangular lawn=17 feet.

Explanation:

Given: A rectangular lawn 15 feet long and 8 feet wide.

To find the diagonal of lawn such that it will divide the area of the lawn into two right triangles. [i.e. diagonal will be the hypotenuse]

So by Pythagoras theorem of right triangles,

`hypotenuse^2=perpendicular^2+base^2\\\Rightarrow\ diagonal^2=length^2+width^2\\\text{substitute the values of length and width,we get}\\\Rightarrow\ diagonal^2=15^2+8^2=225+64=289\\\Rightarrow\ diagonal=√(289)= √(17*17)=17`

Therefore diameter of the given rectangular lawn=17 feet.