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I am training Trigonometry just for fun, so I am not in a hurry, but would like to know how to answer this question - not the result, but how to do it. Sorry because I understand this is too basic for you, but I forgot almost everything from elementary school...

Question says:

A sheet of paper measures $210 \space mm \times 297 \space mm$. Consider a diagonal from one corner of the sheet to its opposite corner, and choose a point on the diagonal so that its distance to the furthest edge of the sheet is equal to the length of that edge, that is, $210 \space mm$. What is the distance of the point to the nearest edge of the sheet?

This is the point I reached (did it in Paint - sorry about the quality): http://i.imgur.com/UZhK9.png

So as you can see I tried but with no success, and would like to know how to continue. Someone can help me?

Thank you very much in advance.

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    $x=\sqrt{297^2+210^2}-210$2011-12-05
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    Wouldn't "distance to the furthest edge" be from the point to one of the edges (not a corner)? So, the vertical line from $x$ to the bottom edge is 210mm. If this is the case, you want to use similar triangles.2011-12-05
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    To see what David meant, imagine a circle around your point and let the radius grow from 0 until the circle hit the boundary - that radius is the distance you search for.2011-12-05

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