Asked by Lynn

A customer wants to make a tee-pee in his backyard for his children. He plans to use lengths of PVC plumbing pipe for the supports on the tee-pee, and he wants the teepee to be 12 feet across and 8 feet tall. The customer needs to figure out the length of the sides of the teepee so he can figure out how much plumbing he will need.

We know the base of the teepee/triangle is 12 feet long. How many feet of PVC pipe would the customer need for just the one side of the tee-pee?

I came to the answer 10 feet of PVC pipe when I checked my original answer, by drawing a tee-pee with these measurements. What I would like to know is how do I solve this problem mathematically? (so that I do not have to draw a visual)
No one has answered this question yet.
Answered by bobpursley
Use the theorem of Pythagoras

length^2=6^2+8^2
Answered by Lynn
Thank you, I think. I still do not understand could you explain it to me? My professor still has not gotten back to me, yet.
Answered by Reiny
http://www.jiskha.com/display.cgi?id=1279736856
Answered by Ms. Sue
The Theorem of Pythagoras states that you can find the hyptonuse of a right triangle by using this formula.

a^2 + b^2 = c^2

Your triangle's base is 6 feet. Its height is 8 feet. You want to find c (the hypotenuse).

(6 * 6) + (8 * 8) = c^2
36 + 64 = c^2
100 = c^2
10 = c

Your answer is right.

Answered by Anonymous
You all were a great help, thank you!!!
Answered by Ms. Sue
You're welcome.
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