3. Quilt squares are cut on the diagonal to form triangular quilt pieces. The hypotenuse of the resulting triangles is 34 inches long. What is the side length of each piece?
A. 34√2 inches
B. 17√3 inches
C. 17√2 inches
D. 13 inches
The side length of each piece can be found by dividing the hypotenuse by the square root of 2 (since the resulting triangles are right triangles with the two legs equal in length).
So, side length = 34 / √2
To simplify this expression, we can multiply the numerator and denominator by √2:
side length = (34 / √2) * (√2 / √2)
side length = 34√2 / 2
side length = 17√2
Therefore, the answer is C. 17√2 inches.