Answer: 18.8
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Explanation:
For now, let's focus on triangle AFG.
This is a right triangle with the following sides:
- FA = unknown horizontal leg = x
- FG = vertical leg = 6.1
- AG = hypotenuse = 11.2
We'll use the pythagorean theorem to solve for x.
a^2 + b^2 = c^2
(FA)^2 + (FG)^2 = (AG)^2
x^2 + (6.1)^2 = (11.2)^2
x^2 + 37.21 = 125.44
x^2 = 125.44 - 37.21
x^2 = 88.23
x = sqrt(88.23)
x = 9.39308 approximately
Side FA is roughly 9.39308 units long.
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Let's say for a moment we don't know where point G is located, but we do know where points A, C, and E are located. We can determine G's location by determining the perpendicular bisectors for segments AE and EC, and then intersecting said perpendicular bisectors.
Put another way:
- FG is a perpendicular bisector for AE
- DG is a perpendicular bisector for EC
Because of the first bullet point, we know that AE is split into two equal pieces FA and FE, ie FA = FE.
We just found that FA = 9.39308 back in the last section, which means this is the length of FE as well.
Therefore,
AE = FA + FE
AE = 9.39308 + 9.39308
AE = 18.78616
AE = 18.8 when rounding to the nearest tenth, aka one decimal place.
