Question

A telephone pole is 54 feet tall. A guy wire runs 83 feet, from point A at the top of the telephone pole, to the ground at point B. The base of the telephone pole is at point C. Triangle ABC is a right triangle.

How far from the base of the telephone pole, to the nearest tenth of a foot, is the guy wire secured to the ground at point B?

Answer 1

Okay, let's break this down step-by-step:

* The telephone pole is 54 feet tall

* The guy wire runs 83 feet from point A (top of pole) to point B (ground)

* So the hypotenuse (AB) of the right triangle is 83 feet

* The opposite side (AC) is 54 feet (height of pole)

To find the adjacent side (BC), we use the Pythagorean theorem:

a^2 + b^2 = c^2

54^2 + BC^2 = 83^2

Solving for BC gives:

BC = sqrt(83^2 - 54^2) = sqrt(1296 - 2916) = sqrt(1620) = 40 feet

So the guy wire is secured 40 feet from the base of the telephone pole.

Rounded to the nearest tenth is 40.0 feet.

Therefore, the final answer is:

40.0

Let me know if you have any other questions!