Problema Solution
An empty rectangle lot is 400 ft. by 300 ft. How many feet would you save by walking diagonally across the lot instead of walking the length and width?
Answer provided by our tutors
Assuming we walk one length and one width to get from one point to the other we need to walk:
400 + 300 = 700 ft
We will find d, the length of the diagonal, using the Pythagorean Theorem:
d^2 = 400^2 + 300^2
d^2 = 250000
d^2 = 500^2
d = 500 ft
We need to ignore the negative solution -500 since the length can only be positive.
Next we find the difference is distance:
700 - 500 = 200
This means that you would save 200 feet of walking by walking the diagonal across.