Question

A box is 120cm long and 25cm wide. What is the longest length of a ski pole that could be packed to lie flat in the box if they are only sold in whole centimeters?

Answer 1

The longest ski pole to fit would lie diagonally. The length of the diagonal can be found by the Pythagorean theorem.

d=sqrt(1202+252)

d ~= 122.58 cm

Explanation:

Answer 2

123 cm (nearest whole number)

Explanation:

The orientation of the ski pole to allow it to be its maximum length would be placing it from corner to opposite corner of the base of the box.

Therefore, this can be modeled as the hypotenuse of a right triangle, where the length and width of the box are the legs.

To find the hypotenuse, use Pythagoras' Theorem: a² + b² = c²

(where a and b are the legs, and c is the hypotenuse)

Given:

• a = 25 cm
• b = 120 cm

Substitute given values into the formula and solve for c:

⇒ a² + b² = c²

⇒ 25² + 120² = c²

⇒ c² = 15025

⇒ c = √(15025)

⇒ c = 123 cm (nearest whole number)