8 C I r r At I o n A l n u m B E r s

Exercise 8C

Note: In this exercise, you should use the table on page 206 to work out any square roots
you need.
Example
7, 9
1 Use Pythagoras’ theorem to find the length of the unknown side in each diagram below.
Round your answers correct to 2 decimal places.
a b c 9m
7m
xm

2m xm
5m 10 m xm

1m

d e xm f xm
xm 2m

√7 m
6m
√7 m 3m √5 m

Example 10 2 Find the length of AF in the diagram below. Only take the square root in the final step.
C B

1m

E A
1m F

3 Find the length of the diagonal of a rectangle with side lengths 2 cm and 5 cm. Round off
your answer correct to 2 decimal places.
4 Find the perimeter of a square with diagonal length 6 cm. Round your answer to 2 decimal
places.
5 An isosceles triangle ABC has equal sides AB = AC = 14 cm. The side BC is 26 cm. A
line AD is drawn at right angles from A to BC. This divides BC into two intervals of equal
length. Find the length of AD, correct to 2 decimal places.
A

14 cm 14 cm

B D C

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 6 Triangle ABC is equilateral, with each side of length 2 cm. B

Find the length of BX.

2 cm 2 cm

A X C
2 cm

7 The equal sides of a right-angled isosceles triangle are 3 cm in length. What is the length of
the hypotenuse?
8 A cross-country runner runs 3 km west, then 2 km south and then 8 km east. How far is she
from her starting point? Calculate your answer in kilometres, correct to 2 decimal places.
9 A rod 2.5 m long is leaning against a wall. The bottom of the rod is 1.5 m from the wall.
How far up the wall does the rod reach?
10 A man starts from a point A and walks 2 km due north to a point B and then 5 km due west
to a point C. How far is C from A? Calculate your answer in kilometres, correct to 2 decimal
places.
11 Amelia starts from a point A and walks 6 km due south to B. Amelia then walks due
east to a point C which is 7 km from A. How far is C from B? Calculate your answer in
kilometres, correct to 2 decimal places.
12 A right-angled isosceles triangle has a hypotenuse of length 6 cm. Find the lengths of the
other two sides in centimetres, correct to 2 decimal places.

review exercise
1 Find the value of x in each of these diagrams.
a 16 cm b c
x cm 7 cm

x cm
24 cm
x cm
30 cm 24 cm
18 cm

d xm e f
x cm
52 cm
21 m

x cm
29 m 40 cm
24 cm 20 cm

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 rEvIEW ExErCIsE

2 Decide whether each of the triangles below is right-angled. If it is, name the right angle.
a A b 12
B C

20 16
16
20

B 14 C
A

c A d B
6.5 8
B
15
6 C
2.5
C 17

e C f B
12.5

3.5 7.5
5.5 C
10
A A

4.5
B

3 John starts at a point A and cycles 12 km due north. He turns east at point B, cycles
16 km and reaches point C. How far is he from his starting point?
B 16 km C
N

12 km

4 How high is the balloon off the ground if it is tied to a wooden pole at a height of 1.5 m
by a cord of length 25 m?

25 m

20 m
1.5 m

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 5 Two ants take different paths CA and BA, respectively, while walking back to their nest
at point A. How much further does one ant walk than the other? Round your answer to
2 decimal places.

4m
C B

3m

6 a A square has side length 3 cm. Find the length of the diagonal correct to 2 decimal
places.
b The diagonal length of a square is 4 cm. Find the side length of the square.
7 Find the length of AD in the diagram below.

2m

C 2m D

Challenge exercise
1 Show that the diagonal of a square of side length a is a 2.

2 What is the length of the longest diagonal in a cube with edges of length x m?

3 What is the area of an equilateral triangle with sides of length x m?

Hint: The height also divides the base into two equal parts.

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 ChAllEngE ExErCIsE

4 Find the exact values of x and y in the following diagrams.

a b 28 cm c x cm
x cm 60 cm
20 cm
10 cm y cm
3x cm
x cm 6x cm 2x cm
25 cm

d 12 cm e
3x cm x cm
0.5x cm
36 cm

32 cm

52 cm

5 A right-angled triangle has hypotenuse of length 41 cm and one of the sides is 9 cm.
Find the area of the triangle.

6 Draw an equilateral triangle of side length 4 cm. Find, correct to 2 decimal places,
the height of this triangle and its area.

7 In the diagram to the right, Δ ABC and ΔDBC are A

isosceles triangles, with AB = AC and DB = DC.
5
AE and DE are the perpendicular bisectors of Δ ABC 3

and ΔDBC, respectively, so ∠ AEB = ∠ DEB = 90°. B

D
Find AE, DE and DB, correct to 2 decimal places.
E
4

8 A pyramid has a square base BCDE of side length

A
8 m. The sloping edges of the pyramid are of length 9 m.
9m
Find the height h.
h
B E

F 8m

C 8m D

ChaptEr 8 pythagoras’ thEorEm 213

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