Final answer:
To determine the length of an inclined plane given the height (6 ft) and base (10 ft), use the Pythagorean theorem, which reveals that the length of the inclined plane is approximately 11.66 feet.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student is asking about the length of an inclined plane when given the height and the base of the incline. To find the length of the inclined plane, we can use the Pythagorean theorem because the height, base, and the length of the incline form a right triangle.
The Pythagorean theorem states that in a right-angled triangle, the square of the length of the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the squares of the lengths of the other two sides. In this case, the hypotenuse is the length of the incline, the vertical side is the height of the shelving unit (6 ft), and the horizontal side is the base of the incline (10 ft).
The formula is: length of the incline2 = height2 + base2. Plugging in the numbers, we get: length of the incline2 = 62 + 102, which simplifies to length of the incline2 = 36 + 100. The square root of 136 gives us the length of the incline, which is approximately 11.66 feet.