Question

a certain television is advertised as a 38 inch tv (the diagonal length). if the height of the tv is 28 inches, how wide is the tv? round to the nearest tenth of an inch.

Explanation:

Step1: Apply Pythagorean theorem

Let the width be \(w\). According to Pythagorean theorem \(w^{2}+h^{2}=d^{2}\), where \(h = 28\) (height), \(d = 38\) (diagonal). So \(w^{2}=d^{2}-h^{2}\).

Step2: Substitute values

\(w^{2}=38^{2}-28^{2}=(38 + 28)(38 - 28)=(66)\times(10)=660\)

Step3: Solve for \(w\)

\(w=\sqrt{660}\approx 25.7\)

Answer:

\(25.7\) inches