Question

In the figure, two poles are 25 m and 30 m high. A cable 16 m long joins the tops of the poles. Find the distance between the poles. HELP PLEASE.

Answer 1

• The distance between the poles is approximately 15.2 m.

Explanation:

Given

• Two poles of 25 m and 30 m height,
• Distance between tops of the poles is 16 m.

To find

• The distance between the poles

Solution

The distance between the poles is the segment d which connects the top of the shorter pole with the point at 5 m from the top of the longer pole, which is the difference of lengths of poles.

The three points form a right triangle, with hypotenuse of 16 m, and legs 5 m and d.

Use Pythagorean to find the value of d:

• 
  `d=√(16^2-5^2) =√(256-25) =√(231) =15.2` m (rounded)