document.write( "Question 177147: If the sides of a rectangle have lengths 7 and 12, find the length of a diagonal to the nearest tenth. \n" ); document.write( "
Algebra.Com's Answer #132213 by jim_thompson5910(35256)\"\" \"About 
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "If we divide the rectangle in half along the diagonal, we get the following triangle:\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Since the legs are \"7\" and \"12\" this means that \"a=7\" and \"b=12\"\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Also, since the hypotenuse is \"x\", this means that \"c=x\".\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"a%5E2%2Bb%5E2=c%5E2\" Start with the Pythagorean theorem.\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"7%5E2%2B12%5E2=x%5E2\" Plug in \"a=7\", \"b=12\", \"c=x\" \r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"49%2B12%5E2=x%5E2\" Square \"7\" to get \"49\".\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"49%2B144=x%5E2\" Square \"12\" to get \"144\".\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"193=x%5E2\" Combine like terms.\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x%5E2=193\" Rearrange the equation.\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x=sqrt%28193%29\" Take the square root of both sides. Note: only the positive square root is considered (since a negative length doesn't make sense).\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x=13.892\" Approximate the square root with a calculator.\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "\"x=13.9\" Round to the nearest tenth.\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Answer:\r
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\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "So the length of the diagonal is approximately 13.9 units.
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