The bed of a pick up truck measures 4' x 8" to the nearest inch what is the length of the longest thin metal bar that will lie flat in the bed

Ok so what y ou want to do it to max space, lie it diagonally

use pythagoren theorem

first convert the units

4'=4 feet

8''=8 inches

convert to inches

4 feet times 12=48 inches

so

pythagorea theorem is

a^2+b^2=c^2

c=hypotonuse

a and b are legs

in a right triangle

8 and 48 are the legs

fidn hypotonuse

8^2+48^2=c^2

64+2304=c^2

2368=c^2

8√37=c

aprox

48.66=c

4 feet amd 0.66 inches