Real-life Application of the Pythagorean Theorem

You save 217 steps. Example #1: Each day you walk past a rectangular athletic field on your way home from school. If the field is being used, you walk along two sides of the field. If the field is not being used, you cut across from corner to corner. If you take 300 steps along one edge of the field and 500 steps along the other edge, approximately how many steps do you save by walking diagonally across the field? 300 steps 500 steps 300 + 500 = 800 800 – 583 = 217 You save 217 steps.

Example #2 A school’s basketball hoop is mounted on a 10 foot pipe that is cemented into the ground. To stop it from swaying, some students put a brace from behind the hoop to a point on the ground that is 8 feet from the cement base. What is the length of the brace from the hoop to the ground? Round your answer to the nearest foot. 8 feet 10 feet The brace is about 13 feet.

The ladder slid down the house 3 feet. Example #3: A 30-foot ladder is leaning against a house, with the foot of the ladder 8 feet from the house. If the foot of the ladder is pulled 7 more feet from the house, how far down the side of the house will the ladder move? Round you answer to the nearest foot. The ladder slid down the house 3 feet. 28.913 – 25.980 = 2.933