By the Pythagorean Theorem, BD = √ [ AB^2 - AD^2] =√ [ 13^2 - 5^2] = √[ 169 - 25] = √144 = 12
And, again, by the Pythagorean Theorem,
BC = √ [ DC^2 - BD^2 ] = √ [ 20^2 - 12^2 ] = √ [ 400 - 144 ] = √256 = 16
Call the intersection of BD and AC , E
Angle AED = Angle CEB [ vertical angles ]
Angle ADE = Angle CBE [ right angles ]
Therefore ....triangle AED is similar to triangle CEB
And
AD/BC = DE /BE
5/16 = DE/BE
Therefore....there are 21 equal parts of BD...and BE is 16 of these...and DE is 5 of these....
So BE = (16/21) *BD = (16/21)* 12 = 64/7
And DE = (5/21)* BD = (5/21) *12 = 60/21 = 20/ 7
And by the Pythagorean Theorem
EC = √ [BE^2 + BC^2] = √ [ (64/7)^2 + 16^2 ]
And
AE = √[ AD^2 + DE^2 ] = √ [ 5^2 + (20/7)^2 ]
So
AC = AE + EC = √ [ (64/7)^2 + 16^2 ] + √ [ 5^2 + (20/7)^2 ] ≈ 24.2 cm