A 53-in TV set has a screen with a height of 28 in. What is its width?

Question

A 53-in. TV set has a screen with a height of 28 in. What is its width? 

Answer 1

Let's work it out together!

 

We know a TV measurement uses the hypotenuse of a right triangle for the size. If you're dealing with a right triangle, and have a side and a hypotenuse (or two sides), that should tell you to use the Pythagorean Theorem.

It states that the square of the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. -wikipedia

 

a² + b²=c²    

 

We know the size of the TV is the hypotenuse, and we know that the side we have a measurement for can be either a or b

 

That leaves us with a²+28²=53²