Mathematics

Mathematics

Problem

A staircase consists of n identical steps, each with a rise of h metres and a tread of t metres. A hand-rail is to be fixed in a single straight line from the bottom of the first step to the top of the nth step. a. (i) Show that the length L of the hand-rail is given by L=n h2+t2L = n\,\sqrt{h^{2} + t^{2}}. b. (ii) Using this result, find the length of the hand-rail, correct to two decimal places, for a staircase of 5 steps where h = 0.18 m and t = 0.25 m.

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