document.write( "Question 98833: Two poles are 33 feet and 48 feet high, respectively. A wire is strung from the top of one pole to the top of the other. How long is the wire if the poles are 36 feet apart? \n" ); document.write( "

Algebra.Com's Answer #71899 by Earlsdon(6294) $\"\"$ $\"About$

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Assuming that there is no sag in the wire betwwen the two poles (not a realistic situation), then we can make a right triangle in which the wire represents the hypotenuse, the base of the triangle is represented by the distance between the two poles (36ft.) and the height of the triangle is simply the difference between the heights of the two poles (48ft. - 33ft. = 15ft.).
\n" ); document.write( "Now you can apply the pythagorean theorem to find the length of the hypotenuse (the length of the wire (W))
\n" ); document.write( " $\"W%5E2+=+15%5E2%2B36%5E2\"$
\n" ); document.write( " $\"W%5E2+=+225+%2B+1296\"$
\n" ); document.write( " $\"W%5E2+=+1521\"$ Take the square root of both sides.
\n" ); document.write( " $\"W+=+39\"$ ft.\r
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "The length of the wire is 39 feet. \n" ); document.write( "

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