Question

Suppose a railroad rail is 3 kilometers and it expands on a hot day by 15 centimeters in length. Approximately how many meters would the center of the rail rise above the​ ground?

Answer 1

3km =m 3 x 1000m = 3 x 10 ^3m

expansion = 3x 10^3m + 15 x 10 cm

Answer 2

The center of the rail rise above the​ ground is:

15 meter.

Explanation:

As the railroad on expansion will form a right isosceles triangle.

The railroad is 3 km=3000 m before expansion.

It expanded by 15 cm.

This means that in meters it expanded by 0.15 m

Hence, the railroad after expansion it is: 3000.15 m

Now we need to calculate the hypotenuse of the right triangle in order to find the center of the rail rise above the ground.

and hence it is calculated as:

`=(1)/(2)* √((3000.15)^2-(3000)^2)\\\\\\=(1)/(2)* 30.000374977=15.000187`

which in meters is approximately given by:

15 meters.