Question

A 20-foot piece of wire is attached from the top of a flagpole to a stake in the ground 7 feet from the base of the pole. Find the height of the flagpole.

Answer 1

18.73 feets

Explanation:

Given that:

Horizontal distance between ground and foot of flagpole = 7 feets

Lenght of wire = 20 feets

The height of the flagpole, h can be obtained using Pythagoras :

Adjacent = sqrt( hypotenus² - opposite²)

Height of flagpole = sqrt((length of wire)² - (horizontal distance between ground and flagpole)²)

Let height of flagpole = h

h = sqrt(20² - 7²)

h = sqrt(400 - 49)

h = sqrt(351)

h = 18.73 feets