Question

You are flying your dragon kite. It's connected to 36 yd of string. The kite is directly above the edge of a pond. The edge ofthe pond is 34 yd from where the kite is tied to the ground. How high is the kite above the edge of the pond?

Answer 1

Ok so what you've got here is simple the description of a triangle.

One of its sides is 36 yd long and another is 34 yd long.

Now the edge of the pond would be point C, the place where the kite is tied to the ground is point A and the place where the kite is flying is point B since it has to be directly above the edge of the pond. Choosing this points we have that side b is 34 yd long, side c is 36 yd long and you have to find the length of side a.

When you are working with a right triangle and its sides length you have to use the Pythagorean theorem. This states that a^2 + b^2 = c^2.

If we substitute the values we have in this equation we have:

a^2 + 34^2 = 36^2

a^2 + 1156 = 1296

a^2 = 1296 - 1156 = 140

`a\text{ = }\sqrt[]{140\text{ }}=11.83\text{ yd}`