A wire is stretched fro the top of an 8 feet pole to a five bracket 5 feet from the base of the pole. How long is the wire?

Question

Help!!! ??

Answer 1

Crystal, do you know the Pythagorean Theorem for finding the length of the 3rd side of a triangle when you know the other 2 sides?

 

Think of the wire here as the hypotenuse of a triangle. Think of the 8 foot pole and the 5 feet on the ground as the legs of the triangle.

 

So you know the length of each leg and use the Theorem to calculate the length of the hypotenuse (a.k.a. the wire).

 

To get the exact answer, you'll probably need a calculator, but the basic operation (and rough answer) is simple if you know the good old Pythagorean Theorem--the hardest part is the spelling! :-)

 

Matt

Answer 2

Crystal, draw a picture of your situation and I bet it will come to you!!