Emily would like to build a ramp for her dog over some stairs. All of the stairs are the same size. Use the Pythagorean Theorem to compute the distance between points D and C. Round to the nearest tenth. (you must show your work)

Answer 1

To compute the distance between points D and C, we need to find the length of the hypotenuse of the right triangle formed by points D, C, and B.

Let's label the length of AD as a, the length of AB as b, and the length of BC as c.

Since all the stairs are the same size, we can assume that AB = BC = b. Let's say AB = BC = b = 3 units.

Using the Pythagorean theorem, we have:

AC² = AB² + BC²
AC² = 3² + 3²
AC² = 9 + 9
AC² = 18

Now, we can find the square root of AC² to find the length of AC:

AC = √18
AC ≈ 4.2

Therefore, the distance between points D and C is approximately 4.2 units, rounded to the nearest tenth.