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Sasha ordered a kite online. When it arrived, the kite was missing the crossbar. What length crossbar does Sasha need to complete the kite? Round to the nearest tenths if necessary.

Sasha ordered a kite online. When it arrived, the kite was missing the crossbar. What-example-1
User HCLivess
by
7.6k points

1 Answer

9 votes

Answer:

Approximately
5.7 inches

Explanation:

The crossbar and two given lengths form a right triangle. We know this because we see a right angle marked on the diagram in between the two given sides.

In this case, we have a right triangle with legs of
4 and
4, and we need to find the hypotenuse. By the Pythagorean Theorem (
a^(2) +b^(2) =c^(2), where
a and
b are the legs and
c is the hypotenuse), we get:


4^(2) +4^(2) =c^(2)


16+16=c^(2) (Evaluate exponents)


32=c^(2) (Combine like terms)


√(32)=\sqrt{c^(2)} (Take the square root of both sides of the equation to get rid of
c's exponent)


c=4√(2) ,c=-4√(2)

The latter solution is an extraneous solution because the side lengths of a triangle cannot be negative. Therefore, the answer is
4√(2) \approx 5.7 inches. Hope this helps!

User Eric Coleman
by
7.0k points
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