Question

The fence below is used in horse jumpingcompetitions. It is 12 feet long and 5 feethigh. The fence is supported by the crosspoles which make an x across the fence.What is the total length of wood which isneeded to make the cross poles?

Answer 1

The fence is a rectangle with length of 12 ft and height of 5 ft. It cross wood that form x is like a diagonal of the rectangle. we find the diagonal by using pythagora's theorem.

`\begin{gathered} x^2=a^2+b^2 \\ x^2=12^2+5^2 \\ x^2=144+25 \\ x^2=169 \\ x=√(169) \\ x=13ft \end{gathered}`

Total length required for the cross poles = 13 + 13 = 26 ft