a box is in the shape of a cube where each face of the box is 12 inches by 12 inches. How long is the longest possible stick that can fit inside this cube?

2 answers

This is time for the Pythagorean Theorem.

a^2 + b^2 = c^2

12^2 + 12^2 = c^2

144 + 144 = c^2

288 = c^2

16.97 = c
Actually, since we have a 3D cube, the longest stick goes from the bottom corner to the opposite top corner.

d^2 = 12^2 + 12^2 + 12^2 = 3*12^2
d = 12√3 = 20.78