Question

Maria is building a slide for her kids. If the ladder is 8 feet tall and she wants the bottom of the slide to be 5 feet from the ladder, how long does the slide need to be? If necessary, round to the nearest tenth.

Answer 1

Use the Pythagorean theorem, legs will be 5 and 8 feet. Finding the length of the hypotenuse (slide length)

hypotenuse =$\sqrt{8^2+5^2}$

hypotenuse = $\sqrt{89}$

hypotenuse $\approx 9.43$

Round 9.43 $\approx 9.4$ feet

Answer: 9.4 feet.