Question

There is a bamboo 10 ft​ high, the upper end of​ which, being​ broken, reaches the ground 3 ft from the stem. Find the height of the break.

Answer 1

Let h be the height of the break in the bamboo. Then we can form a right triangle with legs of length h and 3 ft, and a hypotenuse of length 10 ft (the height of the bamboo). Using the Pythagorean theorem, we can solve for h:

h^2 + 3^2 = 10^2

h^2 + 9 = 100

h^2 = 91

h ≈ 9.54 ft

Therefore, the height of the break in the bamboo is approximately 9.54 ft.