Question

tom and jerry want to put a custom-made, round table in their dining room. The table top is made of glass with a diameter of 85 inches. The front door is 36 inches wide and 80 inches tall. Tom thinks the table too will fit through the door, but jerri does not. who is correct and why?

Answer 1

Tom is correct

Explanation:

Geometry

We have a case where a good knowledge of basic geometry could help Tom and Jerry to solve their matters.

They must pass an 85-inch diameter tabletop through a 36 inches wide and 80 inches tall front door. It apparently won't fit but if we turn the top a little in such way it points to the corners of the door, it will lie in the hypotenuse of a triangle with sides of 36 and 80 inches. By the Pythagoras's theorem, the hypotenuse c can be computed with

`c^2=a^2+b^2`

In this case, a=36 and b=80, thus

`c^2=36^2+80^2`

`c^2=7696`

`c=87.7`

We can see the 85-feet top will fit through the almost 88 feet available in the front door