Niki is building a kite. She has a rectangular piece of cloth that is 11 inches wide and 15 inches long. She needs to place a stick on the diagonal of the rectangle to make her kite. How long of a stick does she need? Round to the nearest tenth of an inch

Question

Niki is building a kite.  She has a rectangular piece of cloth that is 11 inches wide and 15 inches long.  She needs to place a stick on the diagonal of the rectangle to make her kite.  How long of a stick does she need?  Round to the nearest tenth of an inch

mathmale · Answer

I'd suggest drawing a diagram and then considering what mathematical technique you'd use to find the length of the diagonal of the piece of cloth.

zpupster · Answer

|dw:1387502181210:dw|

right triangle 
pythagorean theorem

a^2+b^2=c^2
c is hypotenuse or stick
11^2 + 15^2 = c^2
121 + 225 = c^2
sqrt 336=c

mathmale · Answer

Great.  Find the square root of 336 and round the result to the nearest 10th of an inch.

zpupster · Answer

yes

mathmale · Answer

Going to do that?

anonymous · Answer

thank you guys