Question

Ophelia stands on the roof of a tower that is 40 feet tall and shines a laser pointer onto the ground If the laser pointer's beam meets the ground at a spot that is 75 feet away from the base of the tow then how far, in feet, has the laser pointer's beam traveled? _feet

Answer 1

85 feet

Explanation:

To find the distance traveled by the laser pointer's beam, we can use the Pythagorean theorem. The laser beam forms a right triangle with the tower as one side and the distance traveled as the hypotenuse.

Let's denote the distance traveled by the laser beam as x. We can set up the following equation using the Pythagorean theorem:

x^2 = 40^2 + 75^2

Simplifying this equation:

x^2 = 1600 + 5625

x^2 = 7225

Taking the square root of both sides:

x = √7225

x = 85

Therefore, the laser pointer's beam has traveled approximately 85 feet.