document.write( "Question 631411: To determine the distance between two points on opposite sides of a pond, a surveyor locates two stakes at either end of the pond and uses instrumentation to place a third stake so that the distance across the pond is the length of a hypotenuse. If the third stake is 90m from one stake and 70 m from the other, how wide is the pond? \n" ); document.write( "
Algebra.Com's Answer #397571 by Theo(13342)\"\" \"About 
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see the diagram shown here.
\n" ); document.write( "words are below it.
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\n" ); document.write( "the circle is your pond.
\n" ); document.write( "the line marked y is the hypotenuse of the triangle formed by the lines that are 90 and 70 meters.
\n" ); document.write( "since tan(x) = opposite / adjacent, this means that:
\n" ); document.write( "tan(x) = 70/90 which means that:
\n" ); document.write( "x = tan^-1(70/90) which makes x = 37.87498365 degrees.
\n" ); document.write( "now that you know the measure of angle x, you can use the sine function to find y.
\n" ); document.write( "sin(x) = opposite / hypotenuse
\n" ); document.write( "x = 37.87... and opposite = 70 and hypotenuse = y so the equation becomes:
\n" ); document.write( "sin(37.87...) = 70 / y
\n" ); document.write( "solve for y to get:
\n" ); document.write( "y = 70 / sin(37.87...)
\n" ); document.write( "this results in y = 114.0175425 which can be rounded to 114.02 meters.\r
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