How do you figure out a diagonal measurement of a rectangle if width is 14' and the height is 5'?

1 Answer
Kasandra G. · Kalit Gautam
Apr 3, 2018

You use the Pythagorean Theorem (#a^2 + b^2 = c^2#).

Explanation:

Given that the width is 14' and the height is 5', you can figure out that the diagonal measurement is #sqrt(221# by plugging those values into the equation.

#a^2 + b^2 = c^2#
#14^2+5^2=c^2#
#14^2+5^2=221#
#c^2=221#

Then, you just cancel out the "squared" part of "#c^2#" by taking the square root (#sqrt #) out (because they are exact opposites, so they cancel each other out, kind of like addition and subtraction)

#c^2#=221
#sqrt(##c^2#=#sqrt221#
c=#sqrt221#

so you end up with #sqrt221'# as the diagonal measurement of the rectangle since it can no longer be simplified.

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