Question

Gina looked at the architectural plan of a room with four walls in which the walls meet each other at right angles. The length of one wall in the plan is 17 inches. The length of the diagonal of the floor of the room in the plan is approximately 18.79 inches. Is the room in the shape of a square? Explain how you determined your answer. Show all your work.

Answer 1

For a better understanding of the solution provided here, please find the diagram attached.

In the diagram, ABCD is the room.

AC is the diagonal whose length is 18.79 inches.

The length of wall AB is 17 inches.

From the given information, we have to determine the length of the BC, which is depicted a $x$, because for the room to be a square, the length of the wall AB must be equal to the length of the wall BC.

In order to determine the length of the wall BC, or $x$, we will have to employ the Pythagoras' Theorem here. Thus:

$x=\sqrt{(AC)^2-(AB)^2}$

$x=\sqrt{(18.79)^2-(17)^2}\approx\sqrt{64.06} \approx8$

Thus, $BC\approx 8$ inches

$\therefore AB\neq BC$ and hence, the given room is not a square.