Some of the dimensions of a rectangular pyramid are shown in the diagram. The prism is not drawn to scale. The height of the rectangular pyramid is 17 meters.
Since the height of the rectangular pyramid is given as 17 meters, we can label this dimension as follows:
[asy]
size(200,100);
draw((0,0)--(3,0)--(4.9,.9)--(1.9,.9)--cycle);
draw((0,0)--(1.9,-3));
draw((3,0)--(3.8,-2.1));
draw((4.9,.9)--(5.7,-1.2));
draw((1.9,-3)--(3.8,-2.1)--(5.7,-1.2)--(3.8,0),dashed);
label("17",(1.9/2,-3/2),W);
[/asy]
The height is a vertical line segment that connects the apex (top point) of the rectangular pyramid to the base.