Ryan is putting a clothesline in his rectangular backyard. He wants to put it between two trees on the edge of his property. He has measured his property, and made the sketch shown below, where all the lengths listed are in meters.

Question

Mathematics

Ronan Lucas

3 February, 01:51

Ryan is putting a clothesline in his rectangular backyard. He wants to put it between two trees on the edge of his property. He has measured his property, and made the sketch shown below, where all the lengths listed are in meters.

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Answers (1)

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Dana Morrison · Answer 1

I found the figure. Based on the sketch, a right triangle can be created. The clothesline serves as the hypotenuse of the right triangle.

The width of the rectangle serves as the long leg of the triangle. The difference of the measurements posted in the rectangle serves as the short leg of the triangle.

We use the Pythagorean theorem to get the measure of the clothesline.

20² + 15² = c²

400 + 225 = c²

625 = c²

√625 = √c²

25 = c

What is the smallest length of rope that Ryan could buy which would stretch from one tree to the other? 25 meters.