Lisa is building a garden in her backyard in the shape of a right triangle and wants to put a fence around it to keep her dog out. The longest side of the garden is 20 ft and one of the shorter sides is 9 ft. How long does the 3rd piece of the fence have to be?

Round this value however you need to. The exact length is sqrt(319)

In other words, sqrt(319) = 17.8606

Work Shown:

Apply the pythagorean theorem to solve for b.

a^2+b^2 = c^2

9^2 + b^2 = 20^2

81 + b^2 = 400

b^2 = 400-81

b^2 = 319

b = sqrt(319)

b = 17.8606 which is approximate

I'm going with the approximate value it makes more sense to do so in this case. Saying "the length is sqrt(319)" to someone not familiar with math, would probably not convey just how long the third side must be. Round the value in bold however you need to.

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Step-by-step explanation: