Pythagorean Theorem Word Problems

In the Old West, settlers made tents out of a piece of cloth thrown over a clothesline and then secured it to the ground with stakes forming an isosceles triangle. How long would the cloth have to be so that the opening of the tent was 6 feet high and 8 feet wide?

• 14.4 feet

• 7.2 feet

• 10 feet

• 20 feet

Tags

CCSS.8.G.B.8

The bottom of a 13-foot straight ladder is set into the ground 5 feet away from a wall. When the top of the ladder is leaned against the wall, what is the distance above the ground it will reach?

• 12 feet

• 13.9 feet

Tags

CCSS.8.G.B.8

Your family wants to purchase a new laptop with a 17" widescreen. Since the 17 inches represents the diagonal measurement of the screen (upper corner to lower corner), you want to find out the actual dimensions of the laptop. When you measured the laptop at the store, the height was 10 inches, but you don't remember the width. Calculate the width of the laptop to the nearest tenth of an inch.

• 7 inches

• 10 inches

• 19.7 inches

• 13.7 inches

Tags

CCSS.8.G.B.8

A soccer field is a rectangle 90 meters wide and 120 meters long. The coach asks players to run from one corner to the other corner diagonally across the field. How far do the players run?

• 105 meters

• 79.4 meters

• 210 meters

• 150 meters

Tags

CCSS.8.G.B.8

The diagonal of a rectangle is 25 inches. The width is 15 inches. What is the area of the rectangle?

• 375 in²

• 70 in²

• 300 in²

• 20 in²

Tags

CCSS.8.G.B.8

Lisa drives her car 46 km south and then 13 km east. How far is she from her starting point?

• 44.1 km

• 59 km

• 47.8 km

• 33 km

Tags

CCSS.8.G.B.8

The Pythagorean Theorem ONLY works on which triangle? 

• obtuse
• scalene
• isosceles
• right

Tags

CCSS.8.G.B.8

Madison is on the top of an 80 foot building. She is creating a zipline course to the ground with 100 feet of cable. How far from the base of the building will she need to anchor the cable to make the zipline cable tight?

• 60 feet
• 20 feet
• 180 feet

Tags

CCSS.8.G.B.8

A rectangular field is 50 yards wide and 100 yards long. Patrick walks diagonally across the field. How far does he walk?

• 111.8 yards
• 115 yards
• 127.3 yards
• 119 yards

Tags

CCSS.8.G.B.8

The slide at the playground has a height of 6 feet. The base of the slide measured on the ground is 8 feet. What is the length of the slide?

• 8 feet

• 5.29 feet

• 10 feet

• 14 feet

Tags

CCSS.8.G.B.8