Question

A small tree is beginning to lean. The owner decides to set up a tension wire to straighten the tree’s growth. The owner chooses a wire which is 5 m in length to straighten the tree. The tree is 4 m high. How far must the owner secure the bottom of the wire from the base of the tree (assuming he attaches the tension wire to the top of the tree)?

Answer 1

Explanation:

This is a right triangle trig problem. The height of the tree is the height of the triangle, and the length of the wire is the hypotenuse of the triangle. Using Pythagorean's Theorem, we can find the length of the base, which is how far he must secure the bottom of the wire from the base of the tree.

`5^2=4^2+x^2` and

`25=16+x^2` and

`9=x^2` so

x = 3 m