I chose the Pythagorean Theorem for my topic this week. Pythagorean theorem states that “the square of the length of the hypotenuse of a right triangle equals the sum of the squares of the lengths of the other two sides.” (Merriam-Webster.com). Another way of saying this is A2+B2=C2
So lets say I’m getting ready to build a fence around a bit of land that is 100′ by 100′
but I don’t need the fence to go around all four sides, instead I need it to go down two sides, and then the shortest distance back to the first fence. (marked in red)
How much fence material would I actually need?
Since I know that A2+B2=C2, I know that 1002+1002=?2
1002=10,000
10,000+10,000=20,000
Then you have to take the square root of 20,000, which is ~141.42. So I would need 141.42′ of fencing to cover the middle section (hypotenuse) of the field. I would need to add 141.42’+100’+100=341.41′ of fencing would be needed to cover the area I want to cover.
For the problem I’m supposed to give the class to solve Ill ask what is the distance between first base, and third base on a baseball field which is a 90’x90′ square?
References
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Pythagorean theorem. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved August 10, 2022, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Pythagorean%20theorem
