Find the length of the cable

Question

A taut cable connects two cable car stations A and B which are positioned 50 meters and 20 meters above the ground.The horizontal distance between the stations is 1/2 kilometer.Find the length of the cable.

Answer 1

The length of the cable is the hypotenuse of a right triangle of sides measuring 30m and 500m.

or

if we let c = cable length

 

c²=30² + 500²

 c = √(900 + 250000)

   = 501m