Question

Question
A volleyball net post needs a cable to support it. The hook to attach the cable is 4 ft. above the court surface, and the hook in the floor is 3 ft. from the base of the post. How long should the cable be?(1 point)
Responses

4 ft.
4 ft.

25 ft.
25 ft.

2.65 ft.
2.65 ft.

5 ft.

Answer 1

To determine how long the cable should be, we can use the Pythagorean theorem.

The height of the hook above the court surface is 4 ft, and the horizontal distance from the base of the post to the point where the hook in the floor is located is 3 ft.

We can visualize this as a right triangle, where:
- one leg (the vertical side) is 4 ft (the height),
- the other leg (the horizontal side) is 3 ft (the distance from the base of the post).

According to the Pythagorean theorem:

\( c^2 = a^2 + b^2 \)

Here, \( c \) is the length of the cable, \( a \) is 4 ft, and \( b \) is 3 ft.

So we can calculate it as follows:

\( c^2 = 4^2 + 3^2 \)
\( c^2 = 16 + 9 \)
\( c^2 = 25 \)
\( c = \sqrt{25} \)
\( c = 5 \text{ ft} \)

Therefore, the length of the cable should be **5 ft**.