Question

Find the length of the guy wire. If necessary, round to the nearest tenth foot.

Answer 1

We are given a diagram showing a pole with a guy wire attached to the top of it and anchored into the ground.

From the base of the pole to the bottom end of the guy tower is given as a 20-feet distance. The pole itself is 24 feet tall. The guy wire from the top of the pole to the ground forms the hypotenuse of what we can describe as a right angled triangle.

We can now use the Pythagoras' theorem to solve for the missing side (hypotenuse).

The theorem states;

`c^2=a^2+b^2`

Where the variables are;

`\begin{gathered} c=\text{hypotenuse} \\ a,b=\text{other sides} \end{gathered}`

We can now substitute the values given;

`c^2=24^2+20^2`
`c^2=576+400`
`c^2=976`

Take the square root of both sides;

`\sqrt[]{c^2}=\sqrt[]{976}`
`c=31.240998\ldots`

Rounded to the nearest tenth of a foot, the length of the guy wire is;

ANSWER:

Length = 31.2 ft

The second option is the correct answer.