a diagonal brace is to be placed in the wall of room, the height (y) of the wall is 8 ft and the wall is 16 ft long (x). What is the exact length of the brace?

Answer 1

Use the Pythagorean Theorem.

x^2 + y^2 = b^2

8^2 + 16^2 = b^2

64 + 256 = b^2

320 = b^2

17.888543 = b