Question

A radio transmission tower is 190 feet tall. How long should a guy wire be if it is to be attached 13 feet from the top and is to make an angle of 31 with the ground? Give your answer to the nearest tenth of a foot.

Answer 1

Answer:

343.7 ft

Step-by-step explanation:

The wire is anchored 190 -13 = 177 ft from the ground. That distance is opposite the given angle (31°). The measure you want is the hypotenuse of the triangle with that side and angle measures.

The mnemonic SOH CAH TOA reminds you that the relation between the opposite side, hypotenuse, and angle is ...

Sin(angle) = Opposite/Hypotenuse

Filling in the given information, you have ...

sin(31°) = (177 ft)/hypotenuse

Solving for hypotenuse gives

hypotenuse = (177 ft)/sin(31°) ≈ 343.7 ft

The length of the guy wire should be 343.7 ft.