Asked by Quandra

A right pyramid with a square base has a base edge length of 24 feet and a slant height of 20 feet.

A right pyramid with square base has a base edge length of 24 feet and slant height of 20 feet.

What is the height of the pyramid?

4 feet
8 feet
12 feet

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
Slant height s is the altitude of a triangular face, so it and the pyramid height h form a right triangle with horizontal leg equal to half a base edge (24/2 = 12). Thus

h = sqrt(s^2 − 12^2) = sqrt(20^2 − 12^2) = sqrt(400 − 144) = sqrt(256) = 16.

So the height is 16 feet — none of the given choices (4, 8, 12) is correct. Would you like me to check alternate interpretations (e.g., if 20 was meant to be a lateral edge)?