Question

The hose on a power washer is 42-ft. long. If the compressor to which the house is attached is located at the corner of a 28-ft wide house, how can the hose reach up the far corner without moving the compressor?
a. What is the exact height that the hose can reach up?


b. What is the approximate height that the hose can reach up?

Answer 1

9514 1404 393

Answer:

  a) 14√5 feet

  b) about 31.3 feet

Step-by-step explanation:

a) The 42-ft hose is the hypotenuse of a right triangle with one leg 28 ft. We are asked to find the other leg. The Pythagorean theorem is useful.

  h² +(28 ft)² = (42 ft)²

  h² = (1764 -784) ft² = 980 ft²

  h = √(196·5) ft

  h = 14√5 ft

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b) The approximate height is ...

  14√5 ≈ 31.305, about 31.3 feet