A circus tent is the shape of a square pyramid. It has a base edge of 20 meters, and a slant height of 13.5m. Find the height of the tent. Round to the nearest tenth. show work
Let H be the height of the tent.
Since the tent is in the shape of a square pyramid, the slant height forms a right triangle with the height.
Using the Pythagorean theorem, we can find the height:
(13.5m)^2 = 20^2 + H^2
182.25 = 400 + H^2
H^2 = 182.25 - 400
H^2 = - 217.75
H = √- 217.75 (We round to the nearest tenth)
H = 14.7 meters