SOLUTION: I need some help on this problem. I have tried and tried to figure it out. Here's the question. A telephone pole is 45 ft. tall. A guy wire is attached to the top of the pole and m

Algebra ->  Pythagorean-theorem -> SOLUTION: I need some help on this problem. I have tried and tried to figure it out. Here's the question. A telephone pole is 45 ft. tall. A guy wire is attached to the top of the pole and m      Log On


   

Question 52251This question is from textbook
: I need some help on this problem. I have tried and tried to figure it out. Here's the question. A telephone pole is 45 ft. tall. A guy wire is attached to the top of the pole and makes a 45 degrees angle with the ground. What is the length of the guy wire? This question is from textbook

Answer by funmath(2933) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
The telephone pole make a right angle with the ground so we can use right triangle trigonometry. This can be done a few ways:
We make use of the fact that sin(angle)=opposite/hypotenuse.
Let x be the guide wire and we have:
sin(45)=45ft/x
xsin(45)=x45ft/x
xsin(45)=45ft
xsin(45)/(sin(45))=45ft/(sin(45)) (Use calculator or sqrt(2)/2)
x=45ft/(.7071)
x=63.64ft
If you are required to use the pythagorean theorem only, both legs are equal for 45 degree angles and the Pythagorean Theorem states hypotenuse^2=leg^2+leg^2
x^2=45^2+45^2
x^2=2025+2025
x^2=4050
sqrt(x^2)=sqrt(4050)
x=63.64 ft