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29 votes
29 votes
A guy wire supports a tower. The guy wire makes a 48° angle with the ground and touches the ground 20 ft from the base of the tower.

A guy wire supports a tower. The guy wire makes a 48° angle with the ground and touches-example-1
User BenniMcBeno
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1 Answer

25 votes
25 votes

We apply the trigonometric ratio in finding the length of the guy wire,

The guy wire is the longest side of the triangle - the hypotenuse

Let the length of the guy wire be X ft


\begin{gathered} \cos 48^0=\frac{\text{Adjacent}}{\text{Hypotenuse}}=(20)/(X) \\ 0.6691=(20)/(X) \\ X=(20)/(0.6691)=29.89\text{ft} \end{gathered}

Therefore, the length of the guy wire is 30 feet to the nearest foot

User Mfink
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