Question

Help me with this math The diagram at the right shows how a post was broken what was the original height of the post

Answer 1

Let us name the diagram.

From this right triangle,

The opposite side is 18 inches.

The adjacent side is 2 feet

That is,

`2*12=24\text{ inches}`

To find the hypotenuse side(x):

Using the pythagoras theorem,

`\begin{gathered} (\text{hyp)}^2=(\text{opp)}^2+(\text{adj)}^2 \\ x^2=18^2+24^2 \\ x^2=324+576 \\ x^2=900 \\ x=30 \end{gathered}`

Hence, the total height of the post is, x+24 inches

That is,

30+24=54 inches.

Therefore, the answer is 54 inches (or) 4.5 feet.