Question

Guy wire. How long is a guy wire reaching from the top of a 21ft pole to a point on the ground 14 ft from the pole?

Thank you.

Answer 1

28ft (27.784887978899609016865094082057ft to be exact)

Answer 2

since when this is drawn it forms a right triangle, we use pythagorean theorem:
c^2 = a^2 + b^2
where
c = hypotenuse
a and b are base and height of the triangle
therefore:
c^2 = 14^2 + 21^2
c = sqrt (196 + 441)
c = 25.24 ft

hope this helps~ :)