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A 15-foot wire is tied from the top of a pole to a stake in the ground the stake is 5 feet from the base of the pole, find the height of the pole.



1 Answer

8 votes

Answer:

The height of the pole is 10√2 ft, or approx. 14.14 ft

Explanation:

The pole with the wire attached to the stake in the ground, form a right triangle.

Let's use this equation to solve:

a² + b² = c²

a can represent the height of the pole, b can represent the width between the stake and the base of the pole, which is 5 feet, and in this scenario, we already know the value of c², which is the length of the wire, 15 feet.

So let's substitute what we already know:

a² + 5² = 15²

Square:

a² + 25 = 225

Reverse the equation:

225 - 25 = 200

Find the square root of a²:

√200 = 10√2

This can also be seen as 14.1421356 or 14.14

User Paul Hinett
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