SOLUTION: A 200-ft diagonal brace on a bridge connects a support of the center of the bridge to a side support on the bridge. The horizontal distance that it spans is 40 ft longer that the h

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Question 367438: A 200-ft diagonal brace on a bridge connects a support of the center of the bridge to a side support on the bridge. The horizontal distance that it spans is 40 ft longer that the height that it reaches on the side of the bridge. Find the horizontal and vertical distances spanned by this brace.
Answer by mananth(16946) About Me  (Show Source):
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A 200-ft diagonal brace on a bridge connects a support of the center of the bridge to a side support on the bridge. The horizontal distance that it spans is 40 ft longer that the height that it reaches on the side of the bridge. Find the horizontal and vertical distan
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diagonal = 200 ft.
let the vertical height at which it is fitted be x
the horizontal distance = x+40
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they form a right triangle
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x^2+(x+40)^2=200^2
x^2 + x^2 +80x+1600=40000
2x^2+80x-38400=0
/2
x^2+40x -19700=0
discriminant = 80,400
x1= (-40+sqrt*80400))/2
x1= 121.77
vertical distance = 121
horizontal distnace = 161
x2 will be negative so ignore
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m.ananth@hotmail.ca