Find needed length of each piece of attic insulation.

sbates

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I am rotten with word problems and I get totally confused. Could you please help? I also have to show all of the work. Thank you for your help.

Geometry. For the home described in exercise 15, if the roof is 7 m from peak to eave and the attic space is 3 m high at the peak, how long does each of the pieces of insulation need to be? Round to the nearest tenth.

Here is the information about the house:

15) A homeowner wishes to insulate her attic with fiberglass insulation to conserve energy. The insulation comes in 40-cm wide rolls that are cut to fit between the rafters in the attic. If the roof is 6 m from peak to eave and the attic space is 2 m high at the peak, how long does each of the pieces of insulation need to be? Round to the nearest tenth.
 
I would highly recommend you make a sketch of the assumed A-framed roof ...

L = distance from the peak to the eave
h = height of the attic space
x = horizontal distance from the eave to a point directly below the peak

using Pythagoras ...

\(\displaystyle x = \sqrt{L^2 - h^2}\)
 
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