Question

luther takes a sheet of paper and makes a diagonal cut from one corner to the opposite corner, making two triangles. the cut he makes is 8 inches long and the width of the paper is 7 inches. what is the papers length? if necessary, round to the nearest tenth. inches submit

Explanation:

Step1: Apply the Pythagorean theorem

The Pythagorean theorem is \(a^{2}+b^{2}=c^{2}\), where \(c\) is the hypotenuse (diagonal of the paper, \(c = 8\) inches) and \(a\) is the width (\(a=7\) inches), \(b\) is the length.
So, \(b^{2}=c^{2}-a^{2}\).

Step2: Substitute the values

Substitute \(c = 8\) and \(a = 7\) into the formula: \(b^{2}=8^{2}-7^{2}\).

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Step3: Solve for \(b\)

Take the square root of both sides: \(b=\sqrt{15}\approx 3.9\)

Answer:

\(3.9\)