Pythagoras’ Theorem – Exercise 1 3

Alice and Bob want to get from one

1. Find the side marked with the letter (you corner of this rectangular field to the
do not need to copy the diagrams). Give other. Alice walks round the edge of the
answers to 2 decimal places. field. Bob cuts right across. How much
further did Alice walk?

4. [Kangaroo Pink 2008 Q3] Four unit

squares are placed edge to edge as
shown. What is the length of the line PQ ?

 [Based on JMO 1996 A6] The length of the

2. To rescue a cat I put a ladder of length shortest diagonal of an octagon is 1. What
10m against a tree, with the foot of the is the length of the longest diagonal?
latter 2.5m away from the tree. How high
up the tree is the cat?

Pythagoras’ Theorem – Exercise 1

1. Find the side marked with the letter (you
do not need to copy the diagrams). Give
answers to 2 decimal places.

2. To rescue a cat I put a ladder of length

10m against a tree, with the foot of the
latter 2.5m away from the tree. How high
up the tree is the cat?
3. Alice and Bob want to get from one
corner of this rectangular field to the
other. Alice walks round the edge of the

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 field. Bob cuts right across. How much shown. What is the length of the line PQ ?
further did Alice walk?

 [Based on JMO 1996 A6] The length of the

shortest diagonal of an octagon is 1. What
4. [Kangaroo Pink 2008 Q3] Four unit is the length of the longest diagonal?
squares are placed edge to edge as

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Pythagoras’ Theorem – Exercise 2 5. (a) What is the height of an
equilateral triangle with side length 6?
Give your answer in exact form unless
otherwise specified.

1. Determine x .

(b) What is its area?

6. Determine z .

2. Determine y .

7. Find the height of this

isosceles triangle.

8. Find the area of this isosceles

triangle.

3. Santa Claus and Rudolph are sitting at

the corner of a square swimming pool
9. Determine x .
of 10m by 10m, which has frozen
over. The want to get to the other
corner of the pool, where Mary
Christmas has left some brandy and a
carrot. Rudolph runs around the edge
of the pool, while Santa, who has
recently been on a diet, decides to
risk walking diagonally across the ice.
Calculate the distance saving, to 2
decimal places.

4. Two snowmen are back to back,

facing in opposite directions. They
each walk 3km forward, turn left and
then work a further 4km. How far are
the snowmen from each other?

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 10. [IMC 2008 Q20] What, in cm2, is the
area of this quadrilateral?
11. [IMC 2009 Q20] A square, of side two
units, is folded in half to form a
triangle. A second fold is made,
parallel to the first, so that the apex of
this triangle folds onto a point on its
base, thereby forming an isosceles
trapezium. What is the perimeter of
this trapezium?
A 4 +√ 2 B 4 +2 √ 2
C 3+2 √ 2 D 2+3 √ 2 E 5
 Killer 4: [JMO Mentoring May2012
12. Determine x (using an algebraic
method).
 Killer 3: [JMO 2007 B5] A window is
constructed of six identical panes of
glass. Each pane is a pentagon with
two adjacent sides of length two
units. The other three sides of each
pentagon, which are on the perimeter
of the window, form half of the
boundary of a regular hexagon.
Calculate the exact area of the glass in
the window.
Q4] A triangle has two angles which
measure 30° and 105°. The side
between these angles has length 2
cm. What is the perimeter of the
triangle? (Hint: split the triangle
somehow?)

 Killer 5: Determine x (using an

algebraic method).

 Killer 1: [JMO 2006 B4] Start with an

equilateral triangle ABC of side 2
units, and construct three outward-
pointing squares ABPQ, BCTU, CARS
and the three sides AB, BC, CA. What
is the area of the hexagon PQRSTU?

 Killer 2: [JMO 1999 B4] The regular

hexagon ABCDEF has sides of  Killer 6: Determine x .
length 2. The point P is the midpoint
of AB. Q is the midpoint of BC and
so on. Find the area of the hexagon
PQRSTU .

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