Question

A 17m long piece of String is stretched from the top of a 15m flagpole to the
ground. How far is the base of the flagpole from the end of the piece of the string?

Answer 1

Given:

Length of string= 17m

Height of flagpole= 15m

To Find:

Distance of flagpole from the end of the piece of the string.

Solution:

Let,

Length of string, be x =17m

Height of flagpole, be y= 15m

and,

Distance of flagpole and the end of string be z= ?

∵ The flagpole is perpendicular to the ground the structure forms a right angled triangle.

So,

Using Pythagoras Theorem,

$x^{2} = y^{2} + z^{2}$

$(17)^{2}=(15)^{2}+z^{2}$

$z^2=17^2-15^2$

$z^2=289-225$

$z^2=64$

$z=\sqrt{64}$

$z=8$

∴Distance of flagpole and the end of string be z= 8m