Multiple choice

The diagonal of the floor of a rectangular closet is $5$ metres. The shorter side of the closet is $3$ metres. What is the area of the closest in square metres?

  1. $15$
  2. $12.5$
  3. $12$
  4. $10$
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Using the Pythagorean theorem, the longer side = sqrt(5^2 - 3^2) = sqrt(16) = 4. Area = length * width = 4 * 3 = 12.

AI explanation

Using the Pythagorean theorem for the rectangular floor, the diagonal squared equals the sum of the squares of the two sides, so 5 squared equals 3 squared plus the longer side squared. This gives 25 equals 9 plus the longer side squared, meaning the longer side squared is 16 and the side itself is 4 m. The area of the rectangle is 3 m times 4 m, which is 12 square metres.

Keep practicing — related questions