The Pyramid is an arena in Memphis, Tennessee. Its height is 321 ft., and its slant height is 436.5 ft. Find the length of the edge of the square base. Round the answer to the nearest tenth.
Use the Pythagorean Theorem to solve this problom
Let the length of the edge of the square base be x.
According to the Pythagorean theorem, in a right triangle, the square of the hypotenuse (slant height in this case) is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides.
Using this theorem, we can set up the following equation:
x^2 + x^2 = 436.5^2
Simplifying:
2x^2 = 436.5^2
Dividing both sides by 2:
x^2 = 436.5^2 / 2
Taking the square root of both sides:
x = √(436.5^2 / 2)
x ≈ 308.1 ft
Therefore, the length of the edge of the square base is approximately 308.1 ft.