Question

A wire is to be attached to support a telephone pole. Because of surrounding buildings, sidewalks and roadways the wire must be anchored exactly 12 feet from the base of the pole. Telephone company workers have only 33 feet of cable and 4 feet of tang must be used to attach the bale to the pole and to the stake on the ground The wire can be attached at the height of ? The wire can be attached at the height of approximately?

Answer 1

Step 1

Draw the triangle

Step 2

Find the height using Pythagoras theorem

`(Hypothenus)^2=(Adjacent)^2+(opposite)^2`

Where

`\begin{gathered} \text{Adjacent}=\text{ height}(h) \\ \text{opposite = 12ft} \\ \text{Hypothenuse}=29 \end{gathered}`
`\begin{gathered} 29^2=h^2+12^2 \\ 29^2-12^2=h^2_{} \\ h=\sqrt[]{841-144} \\ h=\sqrt[]{697}ft \end{gathered}`

Therefore the wire can be attached at a height of√697 ft from the base of the pole

and

The wire can be attached at a height of 26.40ft approximately to 2 decimal places from the base of the pole.