Can anyone solve this problem? finding the minimum height.

Question

the length of a christmas tree stand is square root of 29 m. the height of an improvised box of a length 4 m and width 3m will be adjusted so that the stand can be put inside the box. what must be the minimum height of the box?

Answer 1

This is a simple problem using the Pythagoras right triangle. The sum of the squares of each side of a right triangle is equal to the square of the hypotenuse. A box 3m x 4m has a hypotenuse of 5m from corner to corner. The square of 5 is 25. from the bottom of one corner of the box to the top of the diagonally opposite corner has to be the square root of 29, so the height of the box has to be the square root of 4.

The square root of 29 is 5.39m.

 

25 + 4 = 29. Therefore the box has to be at least 2m high. However, such a box would be able to hold a stick 5.39m long. Without knowing the other dimensions of the Christmas tree stand, it is not possible to determine how much more height would be needed because the stand could not be fitted in the box exactly from one corner to the diagonally opposite corner.