You are assembling a swing for a playground. The horizontal crossbar that attaches at the midpoint of each pair of legs is 28 inches long. Assuming that the crossbars are parallel to the ground, how far apart will the bottoms of the legs of the swing be when the swing is completely assembled?

Question

directrix · Answer

This may be the diagram. Attached.

kenny252 · Answer

It is

directrix · Answer

The Mid-Segment Theorem is needed for this.

directrix · Answer

The Triangle Midsegment Theorem:

 “In a triangle, the segment joining the midpoints of any two sides will be parallel to the third side and half its length.”

directrix · Answer

According to the Mid-Segment Theorem, if the crossbar is 28, what is the distance between the legs of the swing.

Think of the distance between the legs of the swing as the third side of the triangle.

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