Question

PLEASE HELP I AM ABOUT TO FAIL.

A 15-foot pole is leaning against a tree. The bottom of the pole is 9 feet away from the bottom of the tree. Approximately how high up the tree does the top of the pole reach? 6 feet 9 feet 12 feet 14 feet

Answer 1

The tree, pole and the ground form a right triangle, right-angled at the junction of the tree and the ground.
The pole forms a hypotenuse, length 15 ft.
Ground is a leg, 9 ft.
We can use Pythagoras theorem to find the height of the tree, namely

`height=√(15^2-9^2)`

`=√(225-81)`

`=√(144)`

`=12` ft.

The height of the tree is 12 feet.