- The lengthsof the sidesof the rectangleare 8 cm and 6 cm.
- The PythagoreanTheoremcan be usedto find the third side of a right triangle.
Answeringthesequestionsis the first step to successwith this problem.
DrawingRepresentations
Up to this point,the analysisof the sampleproblemhas dealtwith wordsalone.It is importantto distillthe
basicinformationfrom the problem,but thereare differentwaysto proceedfrom here.Often,visualrepre-
sentationscan be very helpfulin understandingproblems.Makea simpledrawingthat representswhatis
beingdiscussed.For example,a tray with six cookiescouldbe representedby the diagrambelow.
The drawingtakesonly secondsto create,but it couldhelp you visualizeimportantinformation.Remember
that thereare manydifferentwaysto displayinformation.Lookat the way a line segmentsix incheslong is
displayedbelow.
Whenyou approacha problem,thinkabouthow you can representthe informationin the mostusefulway.
Continueyour workon the sampleproblemby makingdrawings.
Let’s returnto that example.
Example1 (Repeated)