Question

10. Find the height of the pole where the guy wire is attached, to the nearest tenth of a metre. -guy wire 10 m b C 2m a

Answer 1

$b\approx9.8m$

1) Since we have a right triangle, let's make use of the Pythagorean Theorem to find the leg "b".

$a^2=b^2+c^2$

Note that in the Pythagorean Theorem, we always let the hypotenuse isolated on the left side (usually), so we can plug that in this way:

$\begin{gathered} 10^2=b^2+2^2 \\ 100=b^2+4 \\ 100-4=b^2+4-4 \\ b^2=96 \\ b=4\sqrt[]{6}\approx9.8 \end{gathered}$

Notice that the hypotenuse is always opposite to the right angle.

3)Thus, the answer is 9.8