Question

Darla is building a new desk. To make sure she had made a square corner, she measures 3ft. from the corner along one edge and 4 ft. from the corner along the other edge. How long should the diagonal be between those two ppoints if the corner is a right angle?

Answer 1

The answer is 5 ft.

Explanation:

First, Darla measures 3 ft from the corner along one edge: let’s assume the measurement is from west (corner A) to east (new corner B).

Second, Darla measures 4 ft from the corner along the other edge: the measurement is from the new corner B, northwards to another new corner C.

The length of the diagonal will be the distance between corner A and new corner C = hypotenuse = x .

We know that if the corner is a right angle corner, then we will have a right-angled triangle where the square of the hypotenuse = sum of the squares of the opposite and adjacent sides:

the adjacent side = 3 ft

the opposite side = 4 ft

Therefore, x² = 3² + 4² = 25

x = square root of 25 = 5 ft

Length of the diagonal = x = 5 ft .