Question

A rectangular garden has a length of 20 yards and a width of 42 yards. A diagonal path runs from one end of the garden to the other. How long is the diagonal path?

Answer 1

Explanation:

The diagonal separates the rectangle into 2 triangles. Therefore to calculate the length of the diagonal we can use the Pythagorean theorem.

Let the diagonal equal x

Therefore:

`{x}^(2) = {l}^(2) + {b}^(2)`

`{x}^(2) = {20}^(2) + {42}^(2)`

`{x}^(2) = 400 + 1764`

`{x}^(2) = 2164`

`x = √(2164)`

`x = 2 √(541) \: or \: 46.52`