Question

The lizard is trapped in a cardboard box.  The top of the box measures 2 inches by 4 inches. What is the length of the diagonal of the top of the box. Draw a picture of the problem and solve. Round to the nearest tenth.

Answer 1

We can see that the top of the box is formed by 2 right triangles.

Since is a right triangle we can apply the Pythagorean theorem:

c^2 = a^2 + b^2

Where:

c= hypotenuse = x (the longest side)

a & b = the other 2 legs of the triangle

Replacing:

x^2 = 2^2+ 4^2

x^2 = 4 + 16

x^2 = 20

x = √20

x = 4.5 inches