Q.The areas of the three adjacent faces of a right rectangular prism are \(a\), \(b\), and \(c\) square units. Find the length of the space diagonal (the longest diagonal) of the prism.

Let the lengths of the three edges of the right rectangular prism be \(x\), \(y\), and \(z\) units. ∴ \(xy = a\) -----(i) \(yz = b\) -----(ii) \(zx = c\) -----(iii) Multiplying equations (i), (ii), and (iii), we get: \(x^2y^2z^2 = abc\) ⇒ \(xyz = \sqrt{abc}\) -----(iv) From equation (iv), dividing by (i), (ii), and (iii) respectively, we get: \(z = \cfrac{\sqrt{abc}}{a},\quad x = \cfrac{\sqrt{abc}}{b},\quad y = \cfrac{\sqrt{abc}}{c}\) ∴ The length of the space diagonal of the prism = \(\sqrt{x^2 + y^2 + z^2}\) units = \(\sqrt{\left(\cfrac{\sqrt{abc}}{b}\right)^2 + \left(\cfrac{\sqrt{abc}}{c}\right)^2 + \left(\cfrac{\sqrt{abc}}{a}\right)^2}\) units = \(\sqrt{\cfrac{abc}{b^2} + \cfrac{abc}{c^2} + \cfrac{abc}{a^2}}\) units = \(\sqrt{\cfrac{ac}{b} + \cfrac{ab}{c} + \cfrac{bc}{a}}\) units = \(\sqrt{\cfrac{a^2c^2 + a^2b^2 + b^2c^2}{abc}}\) units
Similar Questions