SOLUTION: An architect is making a floor plan for a rectangular gymnasium. The distance between opposite corners of the gym will be 39 meters and the width will be 15 meters. What will be th
Question 1135656: An architect is making a floor plan for a rectangular gymnasium. The distance between opposite corners of the gym will be 39 meters and the width will be 15 meters. What will be the length of the gym? Found 2 solutions by ikleyn, greenestamps:Answer by ikleyn(52781) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website! .
Use the Pithagorean theorem.
You are given the hypotenuse of the right triangle of 39 meters long and one of the two legs of 15 meters long.
Then the other leg (which is exactly the value under the question) is
= 36 meters. ANSWER
The length, width, and diagonal of the rectangle form a right triangle. This problem is solved in almost no time if you are familiar with the simplest few Pythagorean Triples.
The hypotenuse is 39 = 3*13; one leg (the width) is 15 = 3*5.
5-12-13 is a common Pythagorean Triple; the length is 3*12 = 36.