Question

A television is advertised by giving the approximate length of the diagonal of its screen.If a television screen measures approximately 20 in. high and 32 in. wide, which of the following approximate measures should be used to advertise it?

Answer 1

The situation forms a rectangle, composed of 2 right triangles:

Since it's a right triangle, we can apply the Pythagorean theorem:

c^2 = a^2 + b^2

Where:

c = hypotenuse (the longest side ) = x

a & b = the other 2 legs of the triangle

Replacing with the values given:

x^2 = 20^2 +32^2

Solve for x:

x^2 = 400 + 1,024

x^2 = 1,424

x= √1,424

x= 37.73

Correct option: 37.7 in