Question

A telephone pole stands exactly in the middle between two houses. The houses are 72 feet apart. If a wire is stretched from the top of the pole to the base of the house, its length is 39 feet.

A. What is the distance of the pole from each house?
72/2= 36
36 ft from each house.
B. What is the height of the pole?
39 feet.

plz help

Answer 1

A. is correct.

B. the height of the pole is not 39 feet; that's the length of the wire.

a^2 + b^2 = c^2

a^2 + 36^2 = 39^2
a^2 + 1,296 = 1,521
a^2 = 1521 - 1296
a^2 = 225
a = 15 feet

Answer 2

let h be the height
Using Pythagoras,

h^2 + 36^2 = 39^2
h^2 = 225
h = 15