SOLUTION: The enttrance to a tent is the shape of an equilateral triangle. If the base of the tent is 10 feet wide, how tall is the tent? I must show the 5-6 steps of problem solving.

Algebra ->  Quadratic Equations and Parabolas  -> Quadratic Equations Lessons  -> Quadratic Equation Lesson -> SOLUTION: The enttrance to a tent is the shape of an equilateral triangle. If the base of the tent is 10 feet wide, how tall is the tent? I must show the 5-6 steps of problem solving.       Log On


   

Question 327267: The enttrance to a tent is the shape of an equilateral triangle. If the base of the tent is 10 feet wide, how tall is the tent?
I must show the 5-6 steps of problem solving.
Thank you to anyone that can help me out.
Answer by jvan(28) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
I'm not sure what 5-6 steps your teacher wants you to use specifically, so I'll make up my own steps ^o^
First you should draw the picture. you know the sides of the triangle are all the same length, 10 feet. If you draw a vertical line through the triangle, you notice that it is made up to two right triangles. The base of the right triangle is 5 feet (half of 10 feet) and the hypothenuse is 10 feet. To get the third side of the triangle (the height of the tent) you can use the pythagorean theorem a%5E2%2Bb%5E2+=+c%5E2 since this is a right triangle. Plug in a=5 and c=10 (notice that we have to plug 10 into c and not b because 10 is the hypothenuse, the longest side of the triangle). After plugging these in you get 5%5E2%2Bb%5E2+=+10%5E2. Subtract 5^2 from both sides to get b%5E2+=+75. Now square root both sides to get b=8.66feet, the height of the tent! ^0^!! I hope this will help. Sorry I can't write them in the steps that you want. But I have confident you will be able to rewrite this =)
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