Joe buys a 5 foot long fishing pole but cannot take the bus home because the bus driver will not let him board the bus with anything over 4 feet long. Joe goes to a hardware store and buys one thing then returns and boards the bus. The pole can not be cut, bent, broken, or taken apart. What did Joe buy to allow him to board the bus with the fishing pole?
Joe bought a BOX!! Since the maximum dimension can be 4 feet maximum, use the Pythagorean Theorem!!
a^2 + b^2 = c^2
Joe bought a box that was at least 3 feet by 3 feet by 4 feet -- the diagonal of the box will be 5 feet (the sides of the box and the fishing pole will form a 3,4,5 right triangle).
