A pole has two guy wires attached to it. A 32.5-foot guy wire is attached 30 feet up the pole. A second guy wire is attached 15 feet further up the pole. The second guy wire is attached to the ground 8 feet further away from the pole than the first guy wire.

Question

part 1. To the nearest tenth of a foot, what is the distance, x, from the pole to the ground where the first guy wire is attached?
Part 2. To the nearest tenth of a foot, what is the length of the second guy wire? ( showed work)

Answer 1

Did you draw a diagram? If so, it should be clear that this is just an exercise in using the Pythagorean Theorem.
(1) x^2 + 30^2 = 32.5^2
(2) If the 2nd wire's length is z, then z^2 = (x+8)^2 + (30+15)^2