Fiona’s TV screen is 20 inches long. The diagonal measures 25 inches.

What is the width of Fiona's TV?

1 answer

To find the width of Fiona's TV screen, we can use the Pythagorean theorem. The TV screen forms a right triangle where the length and width are the two legs, and the diagonal is the hypotenuse.

Let:

  • \( L = \) length of the TV screen = 20 inches
  • \( W = \) width of the TV screen (unknown)
  • \( D = \) diagonal of the TV screen = 25 inches

According to the Pythagorean theorem:

\[ D^2 = L^2 + W^2 \]

Plugging in the known values:

\[ 25^2 = 20^2 + W^2 \]

Calculating the squares:

\[ 625 = 400 + W^2 \]

Now, isolate \( W^2 \):

\[ W^2 = 625 - 400 \] \[ W^2 = 225 \]

Taking the square root of both sides:

\[ W = \sqrt{225} \] \[ W = 15 \]

Thus, the width of Fiona's TV screen is 15 inches.