A piece of straight thin wire fits diagonally across a rectangle of length 7cm. If the wire is 10cm long, what would be the width of the rectangle.
a^2 + b^2 = c^2
7^2 + b^2 = 10^2
49 + b^2 = 100
b^2 = 51
b = 7.1414
To find the width of the rectangle, we can use the Pythagorean theorem. According to the Pythagorean theorem, the square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle (in this case, the wire) is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides (the length and width of the rectangle).
In this case, we have a rectangle with a length of 7cm and a wire of length 10cm that fits diagonally across it. Let's assume the width of the rectangle is 'w'.
Using the Pythagorean theorem:
Length^2 + Width^2 = Wire Length^2
Substituting the given values:
7^2 + w^2 = 10^2
49 + w^2 = 100
Now, let's solve for 'w':
w^2 = 100 - 49
w^2 = 51
w = √51
The width of the rectangle is approximately 7.14 cm (rounded to two decimal places).