Question Melissa has a gerbil that lives in a cage in the shape of a rectangular prism. She wants to put a ramp in the cage to give her gerbil exercise. The cage has a length of 70 cm, a width of 35 cm, and a height of 50 cm. How long does the ramp need to be to fit diagonally in the cage? Round the answer to the nearest tenth.(1 point) Responses 92.9 cm 92.9 cm 78.6 cm 78.6 cm 60.2 cm 60.2 cm 116.3 cm

1 answer

To find the length of the ramp that fits diagonally inside the rectangular prism cage, we can use the 3-dimensional Pythagorean theorem. The formula for the diagonal \(d\) of a rectangular prism is:

\[ d = \sqrt{l^2 + w^2 + h^2} \]

where:

  • \(l\) is the length,
  • \(w\) is the width, and
  • \(h\) is the height.

In this case, the dimensions of the cage are:

  • \(l = 70\) cm,
  • \(w = 35\) cm,
  • \(h = 50\) cm.

Now, substituting the values into the formula:

\[ d = \sqrt{(70)^2 + (35)^2 + (50)^2} \]

Calculating each square:

\[ d = \sqrt{4900 + 1225 + 2500} \]

Now add these values together:

\[ 4900 + 1225 + 2500 = 8625 \]

Now take the square root:

\[ d = \sqrt{8625} \approx 92.9 \]

So, the length of the ramp that needs to fit diagonally in the cage is approximately 92.9 cm.