Question 286435
During the summer heat a 2-mi bridge expands 2ft in length. If we assume that the bulge occurs in the middle, How high is the bulge?
:
this forms two right triangles where:
a = height of the bulge
b = 1 mi; half the length of the unexpanded bridge
c = 1 mi + 1 ft; half the length of the expanded bridge (hypotenuse}
:
Convert everything to feet
b = 5280 ft
c = 5281 ft
:
a^2 + b^2 = c^2
a^2 + 5280^2 = 5281^2
a^2 = 5281^2 - 5280^2
a = {{{sqrt(5281^2 - 5280^2)}}}
Solve with calc
a = 102.7 ft, seems like an awful lot, but there it is.