A radio transmission tower is 471.0 feet tall. A guy wire is to be attached 6 feet from the top and is to make an angle of 23.1 degrees with the ground? How many feet long should the guy wire be? I am confused on how to find the equation for this problem so that I may work it out.

Answer 1

The 6 feet at the top is just noise, placed there to see whether you know how to subtract.

The wire is attached 465 feet from the ground. So, you have a right triangle with an angle of 23.1° opposite the pole. (assuming the pole is vertical)

Checking your basic trig definitions, if the length of wire is x, then

465/x = sin 23.1°