document.write( "Question 584050: A rectangular piece of canvas measuring 6m by 2m is folded in half to form two sides of a tent. The length of each vertical support pole is 1.2m. What is the width of the front of the tent, to the nearest tenth of a metre? \n" ); document.write( "

Algebra.Com's Answer #372664 by josmiceli(19441) $\"\"$ $\"About$

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My 1st question would be: which way is the canvas
\n" ); document.write( "folded? It could be the long way or the short way.
\n" ); document.write( "If the vertical support is 1.2 m, that tells me that
\n" ); document.write( "the 2m side cannot be folded to make a 6 m long
\n" ); document.write( "tent. The sloping sides would be 1 m long, and the
\n" ); document.write( "vertical support would be less than 1 m.
\n" ); document.write( "------------
\n" ); document.write( "So the canvas is folded the short way making a 2 m
\n" ); document.write( "long tent with sloping sides = 3 m.
\n" ); document.write( "Use the pythagorean theorem.
\n" ); document.write( " $\"+3%5E2+=+1.2%5E2+%2B+b%5E2+\"$ where $\"b\"$ is 1/2 the width of
\n" ); document.write( "the front of the tent
\n" ); document.write( " $\"+b%5E2+=+3%5E2+-+1.2%5E2+\"$
\n" ); document.write( " $\"+b%5E2+=+9+-+1.44+\"$
\n" ); document.write( " $\"+b%5E2+=+7.56+\"$
\n" ); document.write( " $\"+b+=+2.75+\"$ m
\n" ); document.write( " $\"+2%2A2.75+=+5.5+\"$ m
\n" ); document.write( "The width of the front of the tent is 5.5 m \n" ); document.write( "

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