5 Raymond was riding a zip-cable from the top of a viewing post. The cable is 75 yards long. The viewing post is 60 yards high a
nd forms a right angle with the ground, as shown in the picture below. Given this information, how far is the bottom of the cable from the base of the viewing post?
The pieces of the right triangle we are given are one of the legs (the height of the pole, 60 yd) and the hypotenuse (the length of the cable, 75 yd). Using the Pythagorean theorem, we have:
60²+b²=75² 3600+b²=5625
Subtract 3600 from both sides: 3600+b²-3600=5625-3600 b²=2025
Take the square root of both sides: √(b²) = √2025 b = 45
