Question

A 39-foot piece of string (hypotenuse) is stretched from the top of a 18-foot flagpole to the ground. How far is the base of the flagpole from the end of the piece of string? Round your answer to the nearest tenth ( decimal places). (Hint: Draw a picture on your own paper to visualize the problem)

Answer 1

9514 1404 393

Answer:

34.6 ft

Explanation:

The distance can be found using the Pythagorean theorem. Where a, b, c are the sides of a right triangle with c as the hypotenuse, it tells you ...

a² + b² = c²

a = √(c² -b²)

base-to-string = √(39² -18²) = √1197 ≈ 34.598

The distance from the base of the pole to the end of the string is about 34.6 feet.