A rope is to be tied from the top of a tent 8 feet high to a stake in the ground...

Question

A rope is to be tied from the top of a tent 8 feet high to a stake in the ground. If the angle between the ground and the tope is to be 45 degrees, how far from the base of the tent should the rope be staked?

Answer 1

Because the given angle is 45 degrees, you know that the missing angle is also 45 degrees. And because the angles are the same, their opposite sides are the same lengths, in this case 8 feet.

 

Using the Pythagorean theorem, you'll see that the hypotenuse will be the square root of 128, which is 11.3

 

Hope this helps!

 

Matt

Answer 2

Rachel,

 

The height of top of tent is 8 ft

 

Cos 45 = 8/(distance from base of tent to stake)

 

Distance = 8/0.707 = 11.3 ft