How far above the street is the traffic light?

Question

A traffic light is suspended between two poles. The poles are 13 m apart and 8 m tall by 14 m of wire is used to suspend the light, approximately how far above the street is it?

Answer 1

A right triangle is formed by a horizontal line between the the posts, a vertical bisector of that 13m line, and the wire, which slopes downward.

The hypotenuse is 7 and the long horizontal leg is 6.5m.

Use the Pythagorean theorem to find the short leg.  That's the distance down from the top of the poles.

Short leg = √(7²-6.5²) = 2.6m     (2.598... m)

 

The traffic light is 8 - 2.6 = 5.4m above the street.

Answer 2

Draw and label a diagram

Draw a line from pole top to pole top.

Draw a line from this line to the light.

A right triangle with hypotenuse of 7 and long let of 6 is formed

Used to determine the shot leg.

Subtract this amount from 13 to answer question.