# A question in space geometry

1. Mar 17, 2004

### Chen

Ok, you take a rectangular and fold it along one of its diagonal, so that the two planes are perpendicular to each other.

Using $$a$$ and $$b$$, what is the distance between the points A and B ($$d$$)?

My anwer is:
$$d = \sqrt{a^2 + b^2 - \frac{2a^2b^2}{a^2 + b^2}} = \sqrt{\frac{a^4 + b^4}{a^2 + b^2}}$$
But I doubt that it's actually correct. :)

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Last edited: Mar 17, 2004
2. Mar 17, 2004

### Chen

By the way, this is how I solved it (see attachment). I found x and f with Pythagoras, and using f I found y with the cosine law (the extended Pythagoras thing ). And from there I just used x and y to find d with Pythagoras.

So is this correct, and is there an easier way to do this?

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3. Mar 20, 2004

### verty

I got the same answer so I am sure it is correct. The only slight difference in what I did was I used the two perpendicular heights and the distance between them.