Unit: Roots and Radicals Module: Applications of Roots and Radicals

Finding the Length of the Diagonal of a Cube

• Quadratic equations can be used to study certain three-dimensional situations.

The Pythagorean theorem is extremely useful in

determining lengths across hard-to-measure
spaces.
Be aware that solving any square promises two
solutions.
Also be aware that distance is always positive so
any negative solution can be discarded.

The challenge in this question is to find the length of

a distance across a three-dimensional object.
Notice that this length is the hypotenuse for a right
triangle whose legs are one side of the cube and the
diagonal across the floor of the cube.

The first step is to find the length of that second leg,

the diagonal across the floor of the cube, G.

Use the Pythagorean theorem.

Once the length for G has been determined to be

2 2 , note the length on the right triangle that
contains the diagonal of the cube.

Finally, use the Pythagorean theorem again to

determine the requested length, “?”

The length for “?” is the answer to the problem.

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1
 Unit: Roots and Radicals Module: Applications [Page 1 of 1]

Finding the Distance and Midpoint Between Two Points

• Distance formula: d = ( x2 − x1 ) 2 + ( y2 − y1 ) 2

• The distance formula is an application of the Pythagorean Theorem, which

states that the hypotenuse of a right triangle equals the square root of the
sum of the other sides squared.
x1 + x2 y1 + y2
• Midpoint formula: (
2
,
2
)

Draw your given line segment first.

Then draw a vertical line from one end and a horizontal
line from the other end. This creates a right triangle.
The length of the triangle’s horizontal side can be found by
taking the difference of the two x-values because they
measure horizontal movement.
The length of the vertical side can be found by taking the
difference of the two y-values because they measure
vertical movement.
Now, using the Pythagorean theorem,
(first side)2 + (second side)2 = (hypotenuse)2.

Now that you know the formula, just substitute in the

values from each point and solve for your length.

Finding the midpoint of a line segment means finding the

average between the two endpoints:
• Add the x-values and divide by 2.
• Add the y-values and divide by 2.
These answers are the ordered pair of your midpoint.

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2
 Unit: Roots and Radicals Module: Applications of Roots and Radicals

Applications to Meteorology

• Use the formula T = 0.07D

3/2
to relate the duration of a storm to its diameter.

This formula allows meteorologists to relate the size

of a storm to its duration.
Notice the use of the rational exponent that requires
that the diameter be both cubed and square rooted.

In this example the formula is used to determine

how long the storm of a specific size will last.
Dr. Burger chose to find the square root of 12 first,
then cube that result. He would have arrived at the
same result if he had cubed 12 first, then found the
square root of that answer. Mathematically, either
choice is valid.

The same formula can be used to determine the

size of the storm.

The first step is to change the look of the formula

by solving it for D.

The next step is to substitute the known facts into

the formula.

Finally, do the calculations to determine the answer.

Notice, that the calculations are simplified if the
quantity under the radical is simplified first.

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