A pole is 65 feet tall. A support wire is attached to the top of the pole and secured to the ground 33 feet from the poles base.
Find the approximate length of the wire.
1 answer:
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Answer:
a = √11 and b = 6
Step-by-step explanation:
Refer to attached picture for reference
for an right triangle with angle θ
we are given
cos θ = 5/6 = length of adjacent side / length of hypotenuse
hence
adjacent length = 5 units
hypotenuse length = 6 units
the missing side is the "opposite" length which we can find with the Pythagorean equation. in our case:
hypotenuse ² = adjacent ² + opposite² (rearrange)
opposite ² = hypotenuse ² - adjacent ²
opposite ² = 6² - 5²
opposite = √ (6²-5²) = √11
sin θ = opposite length / hypotenuse (substitute values above)
sin θ = √11 / 6
hence a = √11 and b = 6
