Use the image to answer the question.

An illustration shows a three dimensional rectangular prism with labeled parts. The top, front and right sides are visible. The bottom, left, and rear sides are not visible, but their positions are indicated by dashed lines. The vertical edge joining the front and left sides is labeled h. A right angle is indicated where that edge meets the front base edge. The front base edge is labeled l. A right angle is indicated where that edge meets the right base edge. The right base edge is labeled w. Two dotted lines extend from the vertex at the back right side of the prism through the interior. The first dotted line extends up to the vertex at the front left side and is labeled d. The second dotted line extends diagonally across the base to the vertex at the front left side where the perpendicular height line meets the base edge and is labeled x.

Given l=30 in.
, w=20 in.
, h=18 in.
, and x=36.1 in.
, find the length of d
. Round the answer to the nearest tenth.

(1 point)
in.

1 answer

To find the length of \( d \), we can use the three-dimensional distance formula. In this case, \( d \) represents the distance between the vertex at the back right side of the prism and the vertex at the front left side.

The coordinates of the vertices can be defined as follows:

  • The back right vertex \( (l, w, h) = (30, 20, 18) \)
  • The front left vertex \( (0, 0, 0) \)

Using the distance formula for 3D space, the distance \( d \) can be calculated with the following formula:

\[ d = \sqrt{(x_2 - x_1)^2 + (y_2 - y_1)^2 + (z_2 - z_1)^2} \]

Given:

  • \( x_1 = 0, y_1 = 0, z_1 = 0 \) (front left vertex)
  • \( x_2 = 30, y_2 = 20, z_2 = 18 \) (back right vertex)

Substituting the coordinates into the formula:

\[ d = \sqrt{(30 - 0)^2 + (20 - 0)^2 + (18 - 0)^2} \] \[ d = \sqrt{30^2 + 20^2 + 18^2} \] \[ d = \sqrt{900 + 400 + 324} \] \[ d = \sqrt{1624} \] Calculating the square root:

\[ d \approx 40.31 \]

Rounding to the nearest tenth gives:

\[ d \approx 40.3 \text{ in.} \]

So, the length of \( d \) is approximately 40.3 in.