Question

Riyo has a 20 foot long string of lights she wants to hang diagonally across her bedroom ceiling. If her bedroom is 14 feet wide and 15 feet long, is the string of lights long enough to hang diagonally across the ceiling?​

Answer 1

The lights are not long enough. They need to be about half a foot longer to work.

Explanation:

You must use the pythagorean theorem to find the diagonal distance.

`a^(2) +b^(2) =c^(2) \\15^(2) +14^(2) =c^(2)\\225 + 196 = c^(2)\\421 = c^{2\\ = √(421) =20.518...`

This shows us that the distance is approximately 20.5 feet. Her lights are not long enough.