Question

Ms. Bocciarelli is building a two-story house. The second story is 8 feet above the first floor. She plans a staircase from the first floor to the second that would cover 11 feet horizonatally. How long does the banister for the staircase need to be?

Answer 1

here we have a right trianglewith legs of length 8 and 11 feet. Using Pythagor theorem we get the value
of its hypothenuse: 64+121=185 c=sqrt(185)=13.6 feet. So the banister has
to be 13.6 feet long.