Geometry homework

Question

In basketball, free-throws are taken from the free-throw line, which is 13 feet from a point directly below the basket. The basket is 10 feet above the floor. How far is it from the free-throw line to the basket?

Answer 1

sqrt( 13^2 + 10^1) = sqrt ( 169+100) = sqrt(269) = 16 feet + (4 + 5/16) inches

Answer 2

Hi Beebah,

Perhaps a picture will help?

(basket)

|

|

|

| 10 ft

|

|________________________________(free-throw line)

13 ft

If you draw a straight line from the basket to the free-throw line, then you have a triangle, and the problem is asking you to calculate the length of the hypotenuse of the triangle. You can do this calculation with the Pythagorean Theorem:

https://mathworld.wolfram.com/PythagoreanTheorem.html

Hope this helps!

-Brenden