Question

Cindy is fishing from a small boat. A fish swimming at the same depth as the hook at the end of her fishing line is 9 meters away from the hook. If Cindy is 10 meters away from the fish, how far below Cindy is the hook? If necessary, round to the nearest tenth.

Answer 1

Right Triangles

The situation is drawn in the image below:

We are required to find the length of the fishing line or the distance from Cindy and the hook.

The triangle formed is right, and the required distance is one leg. The distance from Cindy and the fish is 10 m and it's the hypotenuse.

Applying the Pythagora's Theorem:

`10^2=9^2+x^2`

Where x is the required distance. Solving for x:

`x=\sqrt[]{10^2-9^2}=\sqrt[]{100-81}=\sqrt[]{19}`

Rounding to the nearest tenth:

x = 4.4 m