The mast of a sailing ship is 20 ft tall. A rope is streched 26 ft from the top of the mast to a cleat on the deck of the ship. How far is the cleat from the base of the mast?

Answer 1

It makes a right angle triangle, so use the Pythagorean Theorem.

a^2 + b^2 = c^2

20^2 + b^2 = 26^2

400 + b^2 = 676

b^2 = 276

b = 16.613 feet