Question

mrs. dotson is teaching a 5th grade class. she is standing 20 feet in front of malia. katie is sitting to malias right. if katie and mrs. dotson are 25 feet apart, how far apart are malia and katie?
feet
submit

Explanation:

Step1: Identify the triangle type

This forms a right triangle, where Mrs. Dotson to Malia is one leg (\(a = 20\) ft), Malia to Katie is another leg (\(b\)), and Mrs. Dotson to Katie is the hypotenuse (\(c = 25\) ft).

Step2: Apply Pythagorean theorem

The Pythagorean theorem is \(a^{2}+b^{2}=c^{2}\). Rearranging for \(b\), we get \(b=\sqrt{c^{2}-a^{2}}\).
Substitute \(a = 20\) and \(c = 25\): \(b=\sqrt{25^{2}-20^{2}}=\sqrt{625 - 400}=\sqrt{225}=15\).

Answer:

15