Incline Planes: question about distance?

[jmosque]

Does the distance traveled by an object sliding down an incline plane pertain to the base or the hypotenuse of the triangle? My guess is the hypotenuse, but I want to make sure in order to settle this matter once and for all.

 

[WannabeNewton]

The distance traveled is along the hypotenuse yes.

 

[Doc Al]

Does the distance traveled by an object sliding down an incline plane pertain to the base or the hypotenuse of the triangle? My guess is the hypotenuse, but I want to make sure in order to settle this matter once and for all.

When something slides down an inclined plane, the distance traveled is usually measured along the surface of the incline, which can be thought of as the hypotenuse of a right triangle.

What exact question did you have in mind?

 

[jmosque]

When something slides down an inclined plane, the distance traveled is usually measured along the surface of the incline, which can be thought of as the hypotenuse of a right triangle.

What exact question did you have in mind?

That was my question, for the purpose of making a schematic of an incline pane. I was going to label the base as "x" but then I questioned whether that was correct. In retrospect, it was somewhat of a dumb question because I don't really think this small matter would have affected any of the math in my problem.Thank you both for your help! :)