Question

An aerial camera is suspended from a blimp positioned at point D. It hangs at an altitude of 125 meters. If the camera hangs 10 meters below the blimp and the blimp attachment is 20 meters in length, how much ground distance from A to C can the aerial camera cover?

a. 62.5 m
b. 125 m
c. 250 m
d. 500 m

Answer 1

Using the Pythagorean theorem, the ground distance (AC) covered by the aerial camera suspended below a blimp is found to be 125 meters, when the camera hangs at an altitude of 115 meters with the blimp attachment being 20 meters in length.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student's question pertains to a situation involving an aerial camera suspended below a blimp, and the task is to find the ground distance covered by the camera. To solve this problem, one could consider creating a right-angled triangle, with the blimp attachment as the hypotenuse and the altitude of the blimp above the camera as one of the legs. Since the camera hangs 10 meters below the blimp and the attachment is 20 meters long, we can calculate the horizontal distance (ground distance) using the Pythagorean theorem:

• Let AB represent the altitude of the camera above ground level.
• Let BD be the length of the blimp attachment (20m).
• Let AC be the ground distance.

Since the camera is 10 meters below the blimp, this means AB = 125m - 10m = 115m.

Now using the Pythagorean theorem:

AB2 + AC2 = BD2

115m2 + AC2 = 20m2

AC2 = 20m2 - 115m2

Solving for AC, we find that AC = 125m.

Therefore, the ground distance from A to C that the aerial camera can cover is 125 meters.