SOLUTION: A diagonal of a square parking lot is 70 meters. Find, to the nearest meter, the length of a side of the lot.

Algebra ->  Customizable Word Problem Solvers  -> Geometry -> SOLUTION: A diagonal of a square parking lot is 70 meters. Find, to the nearest meter, the length of a side of the lot.      Log On

Ad: Over 600 Algebra Word Problems at edhelper.com


    

Question 360297: A diagonal of a square parking lot is 70 meters. Find, to the nearest meter, the length of a side of the lot.
Answer by neatmath(302) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
We can use the Pythagorean Theorem to solve this, whereby

a%5E2%2Bb%5E2=c%5E2

Since we know that the square has 4 equal sides, we can then set up this equation, using x as our unknown quantity for a side of the square:

x%5E2%2Bx%5E2=70%5E2

2x%5E2=4900

x%5E2=2450

x=sqrt%282450%29

x=49.49747468305833 or x=-49.49747468305833

Since we are talking about distances and measures, we can safely eliminate the negative solution.

Thus, the length of a side of the parking lot to the nearest meter is 49 meters.

I hope this helps!