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The roof of a house forms an isosceles triangle as shown in the diagram. What is the height of the roof, h rounded to the nearest tenth of a foot?

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The roof of a house forms an isosceles triangle as shown in the diagram. What is the-example-1
User Quang Vinh
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1 Answer

6 votes
Answer: 5.6ft

Step-by-step explanation:

30/2=15 <— Base
Pythagoras’ theorem: a^2 + b^2 = c^2
Call the base a, height b, and hypotenuse (longest side) c
Rearrange to find b: b^2 = c^2 - a^2
Substitute in the values: b^2 = 16^2 - 15^2
Simplify: b^2 = 256 - 225 = 31
b = square root of 31 = 5.6 ft to the nearest tenth of a foot

Hope this helps :)
User Steve Lane
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