Question

A kite flying in the air has an 11 - ft line attached to it. Its line is pulled taut and casts an 8 - ft shadow. Find the height of the kite. If necessary, round your answer to the nearest tenth.

Answer 1

The line, shadow and the height form a right angled triangle so we can apply the Pythagoras theorem here:-

11^2 = h^2 + 8^2 where h = height of the kite
h^2 = 11^2 - 8^2
h^2 = 57
h = 7.55 ft to the nearest foot Answer

Answer 2

The height of the kite is 7.5 feet.

Explanation:

If the kite has an 11 ft line attached to it and it casts an 8 feet shadow, we will have a rectangle triangle (see picture below).

To find the height x of the kite, we can apply the Pythagorean theorem.

x² = 11² - 8²

x² = 121 - 64

x² = 57

x =√57

x = 7.54

x = 7.5

Therefore, the height of the kite is 7.5 feet.